Human Immortality Project
by A.T.Fields
Summary: Shinji refuses to pilot Unit-01, and finds himself in the command center instead. Now he must fight on an unfamiliar battleground, wading through the lies, deceit and secret agendas behind NERV and the third impact. Updated to chapter 20: A game-winning move
1. The human race as we know it is doomed

To: Shinji Ikari  
From: [Redacted]  
Re: [Redacted]

[***Redacted***]  
[***Redacted***]  
[***Redacted***]  
_(handwritten)_ _Come – Gendo Ikari_

- Classified Information File#0013772-A, item 11. "CC of letter to Shinji"; Security clearance level 1: Publicly Release Information

* * *

"A face… a giant robot?"

Shinji stared at the colossus in front of him. Ever since he'd gotten it 20 minutes ago, Shinji had managed to skim the index as well as the most interesting chapters of the NERV handbook. This, however, was certainly not mentioned in there.

"This is humanity's ultimate fighting machine," declared Akagi Ritsuko with a hint of pride. "Synthetic life form Evangelion Unit 01: the final ace up our sleeves."

"The PA earlier… Project E… Dr. Akagi, you mean this is your handiwork?" Shinji looked at the scientist with admiration. "Wow! That's awesome! What's it powered by? How'd you overcome the Square-Cube law? How do you control the -"

"I'm glad you asked!" A voice boomed down from balcony above. "It's been awhile, boy."

Shinji glanced up towards the speaker, and beheld the man who had mysteriously summoned him to Tokyo-03 just two days ago. The commander of NERV – the UN's super-secret-last-hope-of-mankind R&D institution – and the man who walked out of his life 11 years ago. "Father!" said Shinji – the giant robot in front of him instantly forgotten. "Yes, it's been a while. Sensei passed along his regards. I'm so glad to finally-"

"Spare me the reunion, boy," Ikari Gendo spoke. "I'm busy fighting a war right now. Katsuragi, prepare to scramble."

Hearing her name, the dark haired Captain next to Shinji immediately stood at attention. "Scramble?" Katsuragi Misato questioned, "Commander Ikari, sir, Unit 00 is still in cryo-stasis. Even if we manage to activate Unit 01 here, Rei is in no shape to even walk! What are you saying?"

Gendo shifted his gaze, and Misato followed.

"Shinji?" Misato gasp, "Commander, that's impossible! It took Rei seven months to synchronize with her Eva! He just got here! What you're saying is crazy!"

"Crazy enough to work," Ritsuko interjected. "Shinji, listen. You saw that thing out there. You saw how it shrugged of an N2 mine like a lot of bad weather. We must stop the Angel at all cost, or risk complete annihilation. Even if there's one in a billion chance that Unit 01 will activate, and even if there's less that you'll sync with her, it is still not zero! It cost you nothing to sit in the entry-plug, and if we succeed we'll have a chance of fighting back! Will you do it? Will you be our one in a billion?"

Shinji glanced from Misato, whose eyes shivered with apprehension, to Ritsuko, whose eyes shone with resolve, before finally settling on Gendo, whose eyes couldn't be seen at all.

11 years without a father was a long time for a 14-year old. When you suddenly receive a handwritten invitation – as short as it may be – a child tends to have certain expectations. Maybe it's an invitation to reconcile? A chance to make up and do over? Full of hope, Shinji had taken the journey here as quickly as he could; and between an alien attack and an atomic explosion, it was not an easy one. Finally the moment, and it was strangely anti-climactic. Surely, just now, his father was doing his best given the monster invasion outside? This strange feeling was undoubtedly just a case of 'incredibly bad timing'? Any moment now, he's going to say the words that wipe away the years of doubt and confusion. A son could ask for that much from his old man, right?

"Father, before I decide, is there anything you'd like to tell me?"

The silence between them was deafening

"Ok. Fine," said Gendo finally. "It's powered by a long flexible plug-in cable, the square-cube law is moot if better materials are used to compensate, and control is achieved via direct neural interface. Now if you have no further questions, boy, I'd like to hear your decision. You've wasted enough time already."

Shinji recalled how 11 years of abandonment wasn't the only reason he hated his father. So much for his optimism. Stupid crazy heartless absent parental figure. Well, if Gendo wasn't going to play loving father, Shinji didn't feel like playing obedient son either.

"You know what?" Shinji spoke, "I do, in fact, have one more question for you. Why, exactly, did you call me here? And don't say it's because you needed me to pilot this purple tin-can either. There's nothing inherently special about me, and you clearly don't care for me as your son! Are you expecting me to believe that the fate of humanity is in my hand? That you're risking everything on my decision? I have half a mind to refuse just to spite you for all you've done, so don't give me any more reason. Stop insulting my intelligence and tell me what this is really about! What's going on?!"

"It is because you are my son, and because your psyche matches the optimal profile of an Evangelion pilot," replied Gendo. "Second guess yourself as much as you like; that's part of the profile too. You are here, Shinji, because I have a need for you – because no one else can do it."

"Now you're just insulting Dr. Akagi instead. Psych profile? Optimal match? There is no way her system is that stupidly rigid. What if I died, or just didn't turn up today? Do you just lose your war before it even begins? I'm calling your bluff: no deal."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Shinji" said Akagi Ritsuko, "but that's neither here nor there." She turned from him towards her robot, eyes lock on her creation. "The fact remains that you're the only one who can pilot the Eva right _now_. Will you really leave us all for dead?"

Shinji didn't let her choice of words go unpunished. "Right now? What happened to all your other pilots? Are you saying NERV is so desperate, you'd put silly untrained me in your last hope Deus-Ex machine and go all-in? I don't buy it! In fact, Misato, you mentioned another pilot who's too injured to walk – what happened? Until I know exactly what I'm signing up for, my answer doesn't change: no deal."

"Shinji," said Misato, touching him on the shoulder, "I'm sorry, but we don't have time to explain everything right now, so please trust me. Rei is going to be fine. She got injured while performing a test run on Unit 00, but in a couple weeks she'll –"

"A _couple_ weeks?" Shinji scream, "A pilot with _7 months_ experience on the job got so badly injured she's bedridden for a couple weeks? And you expect me to fight an alien monster, on my first try, in a machine that might be dangerous _if it even turns on at all_? Are you trying to kill me? I'm not suicidal. No deal, and that's final."

"Enough!" Gendo roared, and at the same time a low rumble shook through the underground headquarter. Far far away, on the surface above the Geofront, an explosion punctured a hole down into the underground cavern; a reminder from the enigmatic Angel that it was not to be trifled with.

"It seems my son is as useless as I feared," Gendo sigh, then glanced at his monitor array, "Fuyutsuki, wake Rei up. Even in her current state, she will be more helpful than this pathetic excuse for a man."

"Yes sir," NERV's second in command acknowledged before disconnecting. Not two seconds later a sound only channel connected to Gendo's comm terminal.

"Rei, can you handle this?" The Commander asked.

A weak, almost inaudible voice responded affirmatively.

* * *

Shinji watched as a crowd of engineers set about altering Unit 01's configuration; still anxious whether he made the right choice after all. Ritsuko was running all over the place, shouting a constant string of command here and there. Misato was on the phone next to the wall, discussing whatever it was her job entails. Shinji couldn't help wondering what it was they were hiding from him. Too many things didn't add up. Surely trying get him into the driver's seat was a joke, right? As appealing as the idea of piloting a humongous mecha, fighting a large menacing alien and saving the day was, even a country bumpkin like him suspected some kind of foul play. What the hell is going on?

Shinji noticed that he was confused.

How, exactly, did he come to be where he is and what, exactly, is he seeing here? He'd received a mysterious invitation from the commander of NERV. He'd arrived in Tokyo just as a giant alien monster made landfall. He'd been rescued by a – not altogether unattractive – higher ranking officer. He'd witness an N2 bomb explosion, the most powerful explosive in humankind's arsenal, do exactly bugger-all to the enemy. He was then escorted into the depths of a secret government agency, shown a gigantic mecha that could only exist in a Saturday evening cartoon, and then told he's the only one who could save the day. Throughout the entire trip, he was given no explanation, no training, no clarification except for an important looking handbook which, in actually, told him nothing he couldn't look up on NERV's publically accessible website.

Shinji crossed his brows. There was simply no way NERV, the super-secret UN taskforce and humanity's last hope, could really be this incompetently short staffed. Everything was so contrived and coincidental, it might as well have come straight out of his favorite shounen anime.

Oh.

In retrospect, the answer was completely obvious. Why did everything seem like a hoax, a sham, a thinly veiled cover up story? Because it _was_ a hoax, a sham, a cover up story. Everything was just an act, and the spotlight was on none other than himself.

Shinji almost cried. It was marvelous. This was the best hazing ritual he had ever seen.

Any moment now, that door over there was going to open and Rei, or whatever their name might be, is going to walk in with a huge cheesy grin and pat him on the back. They're going to laugh, point out what a fool Shinji was for falling for the ruse, and tell him every member of the NERV special force was welcomed aboard in exactly the same way. They will then explain how every randomly selected, appropriately age, sufficiently mature Japanese children have a duty to train in this agency so that, in 10-year time, they're adequately prepared to protect the peace and tranquility of mankind. Rei will then shake his hand, hop in the robot, and go kill the monster in such a way that he is left with a lasting impression – inspiring him to become the best mecha pilot of his graduating class. Smiling as he realized this, Shinji turned towards the door just in time to see…

Shinji saw 3 paramedics wheel in a pale, lifeless looking girl on a gurney. The blue haired woman was wearing a skin tight futuristic suit, and wrapped up in enough bandage to cover a football field.

"Okay!" Shinji shouted, "That's enough! You got me good, father! I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't how our elite mecha pilot is a critically wounded teenage girl. That's one hell of a curve ball. Can we move on to the part where the robot kills the monster and leave me feeling eternally inspired and motivated now? This prank is getting a little drawn out."

Misato, Ritsuko, the engineers and the paramedics all stared at him with complete, absolute, unyielding seriousness. A rumbling explosion rang through the hangar once again, knocking the gurney and the girl to the floor. A soft cry of pain range out.

_The human race as we know it is doomed._

Shinji ran over to the girl and gently held her up. _The human race is doomed_, he thought. _The human race is doomed. The human race is doomed. The human race is doomed the human race is doomed the human race is doomed human race doomed doomed doomed doomed DOOMED!_

"Okay, I'll do it!" Shinji shouted to the room as he assisted the girl to her feet. "Is this why I had to be here? Is this what I need to do to save the stupid goddamn world? So be it! I accept!"

Gendo smirked. Misato slowly approached the boy, barely containing her incredulity. "You'll do it? You'll pilot the Evangelion?"

"No."

"What?"

"I said I accept, but I didn't say anything about going into the suicidal pilot crippling robot. I need to actually live to do what I intend to do."

"What do you intend to do?"

"I intend to put the _only_ person in this entire organization who knows how to pilot the Evangelion into her robot. Once I am done with that, I'm intend to watch her fight and learn exactly what this alien thing we're up against is. And if by some miracle we survive until tomorrow morning, I intend to take over this organization and save the human race myself – because if you all are the greatest hope of mankind for their continued existence then, by all that is mighty, they deserve to bite it."

* * *

_Hello, and welcome to Human Immortality Project! I'm A.T. Fields. On behalf of the author, I hope you enjoy the story! Check my profile page to see a short framework info. It might give you a better idea of what you're in for._

_Enjoy, and if for some reason you don't, let the author know in a review!_


	2. An obstacle you can realisticaly predict

NERV is a private organization under the direct supervision of the United Nations; being granted limited authority over local administrations and, to an extent, the United Nation's military force. It was ratified in 2010 to lead the defense of mankind after the UN's Artificial Evolution Laboratory deduced the existence of a low probability, high impact possibility of an Angel incursion. NERV is developing and, should the necessity arise, will deploy a specialized countermeasure designed to nullify the Angels and preserve the peace and tranquility of mankind. Due to the nature of this countermeasure, and the mystery surrounding the Angels, detailed information regarding NERV are classified as a matter of global security.

_- Classified Information File#0000012-A, item 09. "Organization's Statement of Purpose"; Security clearance level 1: Publicly Release Information_

Angels refer to a mysterious entity with unknown level of sentience. Their existence was postulated by the UN's Artificial Evolution Laboratory as the – potentially malicious – entity responsible for the meteor collision on September 13th, 2000 (henceforth referred to as Second Impact). Angels, if they exist, are a highly complex life form demonstrably capable of steering interstellar debris onto a precision strike course with a velocity greater than humanity's present technology can intercept. While nothing further can be ascertain about their nature, the possibility of their existence, however slight, is a grave threat to mankind. NERV has been founded to counteract such a possibility.

_- Classified Information File#0000017-B, item 02. "Angels: why we fight"; Security clearance level 2: Internally Disclosed Information_

* * *

Misato could barely swallow her breakfast, which had gone cold several minutes ago. In the set of events that could have happened last night, what actually did was definitely one of the less desirable ones. The 29-year old captain tried to count her blessings; against all odds, against such monstrous adversary, they had at least done something right. The sun shone in through the windows upon a bustling cafeteria. Humanity was still alive.

The only word she could use to describe their victory last night was the name of an ancient Grecian king: Pyrrhus. One more like it and they are surely doomed, if they weren't already. Unit-01 was in shambles, and as for Rei… Well, Misato had no idea what happened to Rei. Recovery efforts began immediately after the fighting concluded last night, but even now no word has made it to her concerning the First Children. Her mind leapt over to the other Children in their care and Misato instantly felt the need for another drink.

Last night, after they successfully loaded Rei into her entry plug, Shinji had insisted that he followed them into the command center. "Where ever it is you're going is clearly the safest place in the city right now," the boy had said, "And do you intend to keep me in the dark forever about a monster that I might have to fight one day? I'm going to be much more cooperative next time you ask me to pilot a giant robot if I know what I'm up against." At the time, Misato had no reason to argue with that logic. Hindsight is 20-20.

Shinji had walked into the control room, loudly declared that he was the commander's son, and demanded to be brought up to speed on the latest situation. Seeing the look on Gendo's face, Misato instantly dragged Shinji back out again by the ear before someone could execute him on the spot. Upon hearing Shinji's protest – that he told no lie and asked for exactly what he set out to learn – Misato gave the boy a longer, more acidic, version of "there is a time and place for everything and now is neither and will you just sit quietly and not bother anybody who is working to save the world?" before bringing him back in and seating him safely out of the way behind the three main operators and herself. At that point Eva Unit-01 was ready for launch, so Misato set about doing her job; optimistically content that she won't be bothered any further.

And then the fight with the Angel happened.

Misato drained the last drop of beer from her can. As miraculous as it was that Unit-01 actually activated, that miracle won't happen again anytime soon. Ritsuko will be up to her neck with repairs for the next couple weeks, and Unit-00 is going be on ice until someone figures out what went wrong during its last activation test. And speaking of things that won't be happening anytime soon, they're going to need another Evangelion pilot as soon as humanly possible, especially if Rei doesn't have the ability to spontaneously duplicate. There's no reason to believe the Angel was going to give them a recovery period; on the contrary, if they were at all sentient, then they'll take this chance to launch an all-out invasion and crush mankind like a lot of bug under a tank. Even if the Third Children had a sudden change of heart, he might not be able to synchronize properly with…what exactly would he synchronize with?

Misato sigh. No Eva. No pilot. What the hell was she going to do?

* * *

Ritsuko knew exactly what she was going to do: murder a teenage child. She stared at the boy sitting across from her office desk, and took a deep breath. "Look, Shinji, there's no way I can explain to you what Evas are made of in any more specific terms than 'super durable, ultra malleable, high tensile wave-particle matter' without giving you a degree in quantum physics and metaphysical biology as well."

For the last hour and a half, Shinji Ikari has been grilling her on just about every conceivable topic pertaining to Evas, NERV, and the Angels. Maya Ibuki, one of the computer technicians and her personal research assistant, sat to the side of the room; dozing in and out of sleep. Ritsuko's research notes, usually piled across her desk in a precisely controlled mess, have been shoved aside to make room for maps, manuals, diagrams and other esoteric charts. She had been up all night digesting all the data collected from their fateful Angel encounter; she will be up all day still once ground zero has been cleared and the science team given the go ahead to move in. The head scientist had planned to use whatever time she got while MAGI compiled her data to collect some shut eye; that all went out the window when this dreadful imp came between her life.

This was all Misato's fault.

Why did she let the boy into their command center? Why didn't she just kick him out when he'd shown what an impudent child he was? Why did she seat him just 10 paces behind the main operator's terminal? Why did Ritsuko herself stand 5 paces in front of him? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

The child kept enough to himself while the fight raged on. As soon as it was over, however, the deluge of questions came in. What was that orange hexagon thing? Why are the explosions the shape of a dagger? What are you going to tell the public? Where did you ever get an axe that big? Ritsuko, being a busy woman with busy work to do, told him that she was not to be bothered, that her job wasn't over and that he should take his questions to someone who seemed to be sitting on a cornucopia of free time. So Shinji went and bothered Gendo instead.

Gendo demanded that Fuyutsuki, his second in command, deal with Shinji almost immediately. Fuyutsuki, equally busy but ever the reasonable individual, had told the child that he'll get the most knowledgeable person in the organization to answer his questions. Very shortly afterwards, a normal priority order was delivered to Ritsuko instructing her to 'educate and inform the Third Children about his duty, the organization he represents and the adversary that stands before him.' Ritsuko told Shinji that she was really busy, that she needed to finish this right now, and could he please come back when the dust has settled for a little bit? Shinji agreed, told her that he'll be waiting at her office first thing in the morning, and then announced that he was going to go sleep.

Sleep! The stupid kid actually went to sleep! While she was wracking her brains to come up with the best algorithm to model their new enemy, the stupid kid went to sleep! When Ritsuko finally got back to her office – just a little bit before seven – there stood the bane of her existence looking bright and refreshed after a full night's rest. And she couldn't refuse him either, because he was there when Fuyutsuki's orders arrived. If he wasn't the commander's son, she would strangle him right there and then.

Ritsuko yawned. Gendo needs to figure out what he's going to do with his son. Why did he ever bring Shinji here in the first place?

* * *

Gendo sat before the councilmen of the Human Instrumentality Committee. The room was dark, and only the dimly colored glow of the holo-projector illuminated the people in attendance. Across the long table from him was Keel Lorenz, Chief of the Committee. To either side sat 2 other representatives, making up the 5 member council. Here was the security council of the UN, the inner circle of SEELE, the true patron of NERV and the nefarious puppet master of the world. Gendo had just finished reporting what transpired last night, and they do not seem pleased.

"That was a most disappointing performance," said the representative from America. "We invested a lot of resources into your project, Gendo."

"But at least our investment is paying off!" said the representative from France. "The Angels did indeed come as predicted by the Dead Sea scroll. This corroborates the prophecy beyond a shadow of doubt."

"Don't be so hasty," chimed in UK. "We still do not know if the conclusion will play out in our interest."

"Indeed," said Russia. "We've only bested one Angel so far, and even that was by the skin of our teeth. The scroll tells us the next Angel is coming, and in not too long either! You are going to need a better strategy than what you've demonstrated here, Gendo. The stakes are too high for you to be playing dice."

"Explain to us what part your son plays in this," Keel Lorenz, the representative from Germany, demanded. "We trust your judgment, and we've demonstrated this by our generous sponsorship. But in this case, his action almost doomed us all – and we may yet be doomed still! What are you doing, and what do you plan to do?"

Gendo looked at the old men, and carefully considered his words. He needed to spin this one exactly right. "Shinji was a miscalculation. Our hands were tied, and it was believed that he was the only child capable of piloting Unit-01. I thought he would comply obediently, but unfortunately it was not to be. Nevertheless, we always had Rei as a contingency in case something like this happened! This was not beyond anticipation! You cannot complain when an obstacle you can realistically predict ends up being there. I already have a different plan in mind, both for Shinji and the next Angel. While I appreciate your continued support, and allow me to emphasize that given the circumstances an additional influx of funds right now would be most helpful, I can also promise that NERV has not exhausted its resources just yet. The next Angel, when it comes, will be dealt with convincingly. This I can assure you."

The council looked at Gendo, then at each other. Finally, Keel spoke out on their behalf. "It is reassuring that you have such confidence; I hope it is not misplaced. Don't forget, Gendo, why it is we're doing this. It is for the sake of our future, the sake of humanity! Instrumentality must succeed! Carry on, Gendo, and know that mankind's salvation rest on your shoulders."

The conference ended, and the holo-images faded out. Lights turned on and Gendo, seated at his desk, pressed the intercom switch on his terminal. "Fuyutsuki, you may enter."

NERV's second-in-command walked into the room. "I hope it went well, Commander?" Fuyutsuki asks as he approached the desk.

Gendo nodded; everything he had told the old men was true, except for one. "I still need to figure out what to do with Shinji; he has proven more troublesome than I expect."

"I've sicced him onto Ritsuko for now; it looks like he's keeping her on her toes." Fuyutsuki smiled. "The boy is not unintelligent."

"Yes, indeed," Gendo spoke. "I didn't expect him to realize the show he saw yesterday was a façade; even if he did so for entirely the wrong reason! I will not make the same mistake again." _I must update my model of him_, he thought.

"I've also got the status report on the First Children; slightly problematic." Fuyutsuki said as he placed a folder on the table. "Perhaps you'd like to take a look?"

Gendo picked up folder, tore apart its 'Top Secret: For Your Eyes Only' seal, and began reading through the document. After a couple moments, the Commander of NERV smiled. "Fuyutsuki, let's take a walk. I think I've got a solution for both of our problems."

* * *

Shinji Ikari was having the time of his life. Sure, there was much confusion, and so many questions are slipping through unanswered. He didn't mind. There's so much to discover, so much to learn, so much to exploit. "Ok, so we don't know very much about what the Angels are, but at least we can be grateful for the fact that the NERV handbook is full of lies." He pointed to a passage describing the adversary of mankind. "If what is written here is true – that they're really beings of extraterrestrial origins – they would have bombarded us from orbit until the Japanese archipelago was a part of the Pacific Ocean."

Maya Ibuki nodded. "I don't imagine we'd stand much chance in that case. Evas are extremely versatile, but intercepting barrages of relativistic kill vehicle is going to need something more specialized."

Maya had replaced Ritsuko – who was now passed out on the couch – on the interrogation table. Her boss put up a valiant effort last night, and has certainly earned a little bit of shut-eye. For the first two hours of Shinji's inquest, Maya – not the primary suspect – had managed to get some sleep herself. It was time to pass over the baton.

Shinji was repeating many of the questions he'd ask Ritsuko's already; intentionally checking to make sure he understood and prodding for any extra information Maya might not be tactful enough to hide. Say what you want about the Chief of Project E; she was good at withholding confidential information. "So I'm wondering, what was it that the Artificial Evolution Lab did? It's impressive that they predicted the Angels, but how did they get it so wrong? These Angels, if they're all like the thing we saw yesterday, are a couple orders of magnitude too weak to cause anything like Second Impact."

"I wouldn't know. The Lab was before my time, and Second Impact… er… what's wrong with a meteor causing that anyways?"

Shinji sigh. Maya was easier to talk to but she knew much less than Ritsuko did. He scribbled 'Things Angels were unquestionably witnessed doing' on a pad of paper, and thought back to the only specimen he'd actually seen with his own eyes.

* * *

_On the gigantic floating screen, Unit-01 emerged onto the surface of Tokyo-3. Shinji watches as the purple Eva disengaged from its lock, and immediately leapt behind some covers._

"Synchro rate is at 22.2%," Shigeru Aoba, one of the operators, announced to the room.

"Amazing," Ritsuko said. "At this rate, her interface with Unit-01 will have acceptable packet ratio! She might be able to pull this off!"

"Rei, I'll send you some weaponry right away." Misato said as she glanced over a map display. "Makoto, can you deploy a couple pallet rifles close to her location?"

The bespectacled operator press a couple buttons on his terminal. "Done, boss!"

Breaking out into a run, Unit-01 sprinted towards the deployment hatch a small distance away. Grabbing her rifle, Rei moved back into cover and slowly began to flank the Angel which, until now, have mostly been regarding the robot with what could be best described as mild disinterest. Finally getting her opponent's back, Rei readied her gun, took aim, and open fired.

Shinji watched in amazement as the Angel, previously immune to barrages of cruise missiles, took enough damage from a single assault gun burst to stumble forward. Unit-01 discarded the now depleted rifle, then within seconds acquired a new one and resumed firing. The Angel seemed to be taking serious damage.

"It's the A.T. Field," Ritsuko commentated, more for the sake of herself than anyone else. "The Eva projects its own to neutralize the Angel's and, from this range, will erode their defense until any weapon they use can puncture through."

The attack from Unit-01 is progressively piling up on the Angel. Rei was flawlessly moving between cover; shooting, re-arming, then shooting again. The Angel stumbled forward, turning towards Unit-01 and then-

A flash from its avian mask.

A beam of purple energy blasted through where Eva Unit-01's left arm used to be. The skyline beyond erupted in explosion as the city was etched with a dagger shaped fire.

A cry of pain rang out as Rei clutched her arm. Even so, she managed to get behind a couple buildings which, given what they just saw, should protect her for as long as the Angel take to determine where she is.

Another flash, and Unit 01 leapt out of the way 2-milliseconds before the apartment complex was reduced to ashes.

"This isn't working!" Misato yelled. "Rei, you're totally out-matched at ranged. You have to close in and finish the fight!"

Unit-01 began to dash forward, towards its hulking adversary. A flash. The purple giant threw itself to the side just in time to dodge the explosion. A deployment hatch opened up and delivered a humongous axe to the surface. Grabbing the weapon with its good arm, the Eva charged forward until it was right in front of the Angel and –

Strike.

A set of orange hexagons appeared in front of the Angel, before splitting in two.

The Angel fell on to its back.

Unit-01 wasted no time to pin the Angel down. The 'Smash Hawk' axe, targeting the sphere centered on the Angel's torso, rose and fell. Rose and fell. Rose and fell.

"We've won," Gendo murmured under his breath.

Suddenly, both eyes on the avian mask flashed. The Angel grabbed around Unit-01's shoulder and morphed itself into a ball surrounding the Eva.

"Rei! Defend! Now!" Misato yelled.

The explosion reduced the largest N2 bomb ever created, the Caesar Bomb, to a small quivering footnote of shame.

"No…" Ritsuko gasp. "Her sync level… at that range… her A.T. Field…"

"Confirm destruction of the Angel..." Misato commanded, still shaking with shock. "This operation is officially over. Go to first stage alert, and rescue the pilot immediately."

"If she's alive…" Ritsuko added.

Behind the two of them, Shinji's awestruck eyes shown like marbles. Yup, that left an impression. That left an impression just fine.

_…and that was all he could tell from the fight last night. Afterwards, Shinji had somehow managed to get an official order forcing Dr. Akagi to bring him up to speed; but since she seemed a little occupied in the aftermath, he decided to get some rest instead. Now that they've miraculously survived, he needed to be at 100% for the next part of his plans._

* * *

Shinji double-checked to make sure nothing was missing in his notes, before folding it up and slipping it in with the rest of what he wrote this morning. A call came in not long ago declaring ground zero was secured, so Maya had woken up Ritsuko – who was now brewing herself a new cup of coffee. It looks like his time here is up, so Shinji began packing away all his newly plundered knowledge.

The door to the office slid open, and in walked Ikari Gendo and Fuyutsuki Kozo.

"Commander," Ritsuko said with a jump. "I was just getting ready for the field survey. What brings you here? It must be really important if both senior commander had to be here themselves. Shall I ask the others to leave?"

"Don't worry," Gendo replied. "I have splendid news to share with you, Dr. Akagi. Rei has been successfully recovered; she is severely injured, but very much alive. It appears that our entry plug engineer deserves a raise. As her caretaker, Dr. Akagi, please go and see Rei immediately and _make sure_ that she is stable condition."

Ritsuko stared at the Commander for a brief moment, her visage a mixture of surprise and excitement. Slowly, however, the shadows of comprehension dawned and she turned away. "Yes, commander, I shall do as you say."

"Oh, and bring Shinji along. Once Rei is decent, please formally introduce the two of them. I believe he should establish a good relationship with the other child that his guardian is caring for."

"…Commander?"

"Did I not make myself clear, Dr. Akagi? Please take Shinji along to see Rei. It is necessary that our pilots be acquainted with each other and, since both may need extensive monitoring after last night's ordeal, they shall be moving in with you. I have complete confidences in your ability to keep our valuable pilots in tip top condition."

* * *

The sun was setting on Tokyo-3. Down in the geofront, one Katsuragi Misato was at her wit's end. She'd spent all day contemplating her next move, and all she could come up with – all she could conceive of doing – was choking on her pride and making the phone call. Well… it's not going to hurt any less if she puts it off. Misato begrudgingly picked up her handset, dialed a number, and waited.

"…"

"Hello? Yes. I'm calling from NERV's main branch…. Yes…Tell him Katsuragi Misato is on the line."

* * *

_What could be going on here? The author promised me that every scene he included is there for a reason, whether they be for hints, atmosphere, character building or comedy; preferably all at the same time. Of course, I'd like to remind you that the author is a lying bastard. Just my 2c._


	3. Every tragedy starts off on a high note

The Marduk Institute is conglomeration of 108 companies from across the globe: united together with the sole intent of finding teenagers capable of operating the Evangelions. By utilizing numerous metric diverse in scope and scale, the institution secretly tests for compatible pilots by exploiting its vast reaches of influence. Potential recruits are never aware of their candidacy until they are invited to join. To protect the efficacy of the metric, and the encompassing domain of the institution, both the exact nature of the test and the identity of the 108 companies are highly classified.

_- Classified Information File#0000012-B, item 11. "Pilot Selection Committee"; Security clearance level 2: Internally Disclosed Information_

Absolute Terror Field (abbr. A.T. Field) refer to a mysterious force of influence exerted by the Angels on space in close proximity to themselves. While it appears to be local, the magnitude of the field varies unpredictably with no known functional dependence. It can completely nullify all incoming hostile action with no adverse effect to the Angel's own mobility or arsenal; violating regularly conserved quantities of nature such as momentum and energy. Evangelions are capable of projecting their own A.T. Field, and by the principle of destructive interference can neutralize those of the Angels. Evangelions are thus the only weapon in humanity's arsenal capable of standing up to the Angels.

_- Classified Information File#0000017-C, item 05. "Absolute Terror; Absolute Defense"; Security clearance level 3: Classified Information_

* * *

The cafeteria was abound with people of all race and rank. Both officers and enlisted men alike can be seen mingling about, each partaking in their own vitality restoration ritual known otherwise as lunch. The need to feed affects everyone equally and thus, in the face of hunger, it can be said that all men are truly equal. Yet even then some men are more equal than others – packing homemade lunch prepared especially for them by their loved-ones. Shinji, of course, had no such homemade meals.

In fact, Shinji doesn't even have a home yet. It's been two weeks since he arrived in Tokyo-3, and he's been staying in a small relaxation vault designed for temporarily displaced employees until now. Since the night of their fateful encounter, Ritsuko hasn't gone home once. When she wasn't running simulations, or analyzing some obscure data, she'd be busy overseeing the repair of Unit-01 or passing out in her office. Shinji is beginning to think of the woman as more robotic than the Evas she build. He hasn't seen Rei yet either; every time he asked Ritsuko to introduce her, she always brushed him off by saying that Rei wasn't in any shape to have company yet (which, Shinji admitted, was an acceptable excuse for someone who survived that Angelic explosion). Shinji has seen Misato almost every day, even sharing a meal with her once. The Captain picked up on his current homelessness and even offered to let the boy stay at her place for a while. Upon recalling her kind words to him the night of his arrival though, Shinji graciously refuse.

In any case, today Shinji wasn't breaking bread with Misato; rather he was in the company of the Maya Ibuki, Makoto Hyuga and Shigeru Aoba – the 3 'bridge bunnies' from NERV's command center and some of the funniest people he's ever had the pleasure of dining with.

"… So then Ritsuko… she said to Gendo… 'you liar', and bang!" Maya was barely holding back her tears.

"That's…*snort*… nothing compared to… *wheeze*… what Misato did after the speech…" Makoto was failing miserably at not choking. "…She just stood up, said 'congratulations', and started clapping… Then…*sniff*… get this….EVERYONE started clapping! EVERYONE started saying 'congratulations'! Oh my god!"

"And the best part is: some genius played a prank and somehow turned all our drinks into Tang! Tang! Who the hell even likes Tang?!" Shigeru was chortling with glee.

Shinji smiled. The 3 bunnies were a good source of gossip, and gossip was a good source of influence. Shinji needed influence if he was seriously going to take over NERV, so it would be most conducive if these three were on his side.

"Have I told you about the time I made Fuyutsuki order Ritsuko to show me about?" Shinji chimed in with a story of his own. "You should've seen the look on her face! I don't know why he made her do it, but I appreciated it all right! Then later on Gendo told her she's to be my guardian! The upper management here is a riot!"

"It is a riot, Shinji-kun, because we face unconventional enemies which requires unconventional tactics."

Shinji's head couldn't snap behind him fast enough. There stood Fuyutsuki Kozo, a tray of pork curry in his hand and a gentle smile on his face.

"And I made Ritsuko do it because she really _was_ the most knowledgeable person on this base. I'm glad you appreciate it." NERV's second-in-command gestured towards an empty chair. "May I join you fine folks for lunch today?"

There was a rush of affirmation, and Fuyutsuki took a seat at the table.

"That was really amazing, sir, how you handled the press." Maya started with admiration. "You made them buy up scenario B-22 like it was candy."

"All standard protocol," Fuyutsuki replied as he started handling his lunch. "Besides, the press would've eaten up any story we gave them at that point. They were all ravenous for something to print."

"Do you know what we're planning to do with Unit-00?" Shigeru question.

"It will remain on ice until we've determined the cause of the malfunction," Fuyutsuki answered. "Though off-the-record, I believe we'll be thawing her soon – so we can try another activation once Rei is feeling better."

"You're really pressed for resources, aren't you?" This was a good chance for Shinji to learn something new. "You're going through with it even with the risk of injuring your pilot?"

"Well, given the status of Unit-01, we're far more likely to have the prototype up and running before her test-type sister." Fuyutsuki answered. "And have you considered becoming an Eva pilot, Shinji? It would be nice to have some redundancy."

"Speaking of redundancy, why doesn't NERV have any more pilots or Evas?" Shinji deftly avoided the question. "It's clear you knew about the Angels beforehand, and given your position, you surely could've gotten a couple more hands on board."

"On the matter of the Evas, we're presently building more as we speak." The second-commander replied with a chuckle; he didn't miss what Shinji just did. "We have NERV branches across the world participating – but development of the production model has been slow. None was completed before the Angel's invasion; but given how real the threat has become, I'd be surprised if one hasn't roll off the line already! We're constantly improving the design process though – hopefully we'll be able to mass produce them soon."

"And the pilots? Evas are useless without the pilots, right?"

"That is true, and we are looking into getting more as well. Progress has be equally slow on that front, though. Do you know anything about the Marduk Institute?"

"No." Shinji did; or at least as much as was written in the hand book. He didn't need to tell Fuyutsuki that, though.

"Well, it's a conglomeration of a hundred or so corporations. They've got all the metrics and algorithms so, in reality, they're the ones who's doing the pilot selection for us. You must've gotten a letter from them yourself."

"I did?"

"Well, depending on which corporation sent the actual letter, it might be censored to hell and back…"

_Oh. That letter._

"…so you might not have realized it was from them. You managed to make it here just fine though."

"Ok. So why haven't they chosen any more pilots yet?"

"To be perfectly honest, I don't know. I can only imagine what their selection criterion really is, but they haven't exactly been generous with their matches."

"Couldn't you just choose the pilots by yourself?"

"Theoretically yes, but Marduk's reach gives them a much larger recruitment pool than we could ever process; yet still they haven't found many candidate. That's one weakness in a world of specialization, I guess. For now we just have to sit tight and wait to hear from them."

"But what about the-"

Fuyutsuki stood up, cutting off Shinji's question with a smile. "I'm afraid that is the end of my lunch break today, Shinji-kun."

Shinji immediately glanced at Fuyutsuki's bowl of curry. Its contents have vanished, even though he could've sworn the second-commander was speaking the entire time.

"It was nice talking to you all. Maya, will Ritsuko be attending the strategy meeting this evening?"

"Yes sir." The female operator replied.

"Why don't you take Shinji along? My orders to show him around still stands, and maybe after he sees how 'un-riot-like' our operations management actually are, he'll feel a little better about becoming a pilot." Fuyutsuki picked up his trays and turned to leave. "Oh, and keep what I said today under wraps. I ended up dropping a fair bit of classified knowledge, and although I don't mind you knowing them, I'd prefer it didn't become public."

"Yes sir!"

* * *

Several floors above the cafeteria, in another kind of dining room, a vastly more _equal_ type of lunch was being served. Ritsuko looked at the exotic meals laid out before her; rich lobster bisque, seared foie gras with roquette salad, wagyu steak served medium rare, and a glass of Bordeaux. The scientist stifled her enthusiasm before glancing up at the man sitting across the long table.

"Don't think for a second that the steak will make me forgive you about Shinji. My god, can't you take care of your own son?"

Gendo smirked as he cut into another slice of marbled Japanese beef. "It's all part of the plan, Ritsuko. You know he isn't here by accident."

"I do, and I don't like that fact one single bit." Ritsuko responds with a glare. "Why did you choose your son as the Third Children? We're supposed to be on the same page here when it comes Marduk. This wasn't part of the deal at all."

"You know fully well what the purpose of Marduk is, Ritsuko." Gendo answered sternly. "The 50 front corporations, the 58 other Raptor SPEs, and the freedom to choose any Eva pilot we want. It all adds up to the one thing we desperately need the most."

"I know you're sneaking around behind SELEE's back," Ritsuko said. "But frankly, I still don't see what role Shinji is to play in all this."

"If you're looking only at Shinji, you'll be missing the forest for the trees!" Gendo was relishing this opportunity to tease her. "Fuyutsuki realized it almost immediately, after he finally met the boy. But unlike him, I don't expect you to figure it out on your own – you don't think in the same way that that man does."

"I'll take it as a compliment," Ritsuko sniggered. "I never want to be as twisted as that old snake. That kind of second guessing will only hinder me whenever I'm doing science. I'll play to my strong point though, and ask you what you thought of my proposal in the aftermath of Unit-01's activation."

"Ingenious, really," Gendo answered. "Seeing Rei's cross-unit compatibility does motivate further investigation. Regardless, there is no replacing Marduk and the flexibility it provides. New pilots will be coming in just as the new production model Evas roll off the line and, as much as you despise him, Fuyutsuki has been excellent at his job. I already have a short list of new candidates. Are you ready to play your part when it comes?"

"Yes. Yes, of course, I'm ready to play my part." Ritsuko sigh. "I've already taken action to ensure the new Evas are in order. Just let me know who you settle on, and I'll handle your messy follow-ups."

"Good! I can always trust you, Ritsuko." Gendo stood up as he finishes his meal. "Keep the Bordeaux, I know you'll enjoy it with all your recent late nights."

"Thank you."

"And now I must be off. Fuyutsuki is already waiting for me at the heliport; we've got a long journey ahead of us today. Take care of tonight's strategy meeting, alright?"

"I'll make sure Misato attends it sober."

With that, Gendo left the room. Ritsuko, however, didn't move from her seat; she fully intends to savor every bite of her meal. If her instincts doesn't completely betray her, and it rarely does, she was going to be in for a long night tonight.

* * *

Misato wished she wasn't sober for the strategy meeting. With both Fuyutsuki and Gendo out of town, she was in essence the sole conductor for the entire show. This show tonight, however, was going to be a tragedy – Misato couldn't help but think that the senior commanders decided to leave town on purpose.

"Is everything ready?" Misato ask Makoto who, aside from his nightly gig as a bridge bunny, also had a day job as her personal assistant/lapdog.

"Yes ma'am," the bespectacled operator replied. "Are you sure you want to do this, though? You know Ritsuko is going to be there, right?"

"It's because she'll be there that I have to do this." Misato checked her appearance one last time. "Let's go, Makoto. It's time to kick this show into overdrive."

If it's a show they wanted, then a show is what they'll get.

* * *

Shinji followed Maya into the dimly lit conference room; he was surprised how little effort it took to get into this meeting. If there was one thing that could truly clinch his influence in NERV, it was the opportunity to broadcast to some of the head-honchos; preferably without his father there to offend – he didn't want to start that fight yet. Hoping to hedge on Fuyutsuki's word earlier today, Shinji made sure Maya was around when he casually asked Ritsuko for a seat at tonight's conference – just in case he needed back up. The lead-scientist had, surprisingly however, nodded, grunted, said something to the extent of 'fine, fine', and then immediately went back to some slideshow she was preparing. It was a little anti-climactic, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The meeting room was filled with the usual suspect: there was Ritsuko Akagi, head of Project-E, and her assistant, Maya Ibuki. Shigeru Aoba, the other operator, was already seated to their side. A small number of other mission critical staff was in attendance. Senior-command was notably absent today. This left the reins in the hand of Misato Katsuragi, chief of operations, whose seat was presently still vacant; Shinji was confident it'll be filled in very soon.

As soon as the clock read 1800 hours, the lights in the room dimmed further, then blacked out completely.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," a booming voice rang out – obviously that of Makoto Hyuga with a small bit of reverb added. "Welcome to tonight's meeting. We kindly ask that you switch off all cellphones and electronic communications device, and refrain from any flash photography. Tonight's show is brought to you by Yebichu, the beer of the career oriented woman."

A series of presentation slides flash onto a screen, scrolling through the Yebichu logo, the obviously faux slogan, before finally stopping on the red NERV logo itself.

"It is with pride that we present to you tonight: the carnival of despair! The nadir of the human soul! The tragedy meeting of NERV!"

The lights went up. Confetti rained down. There was a flash of strobe and Misato Katsuragi walked into the room amides the thunderous applause of one hands clapping.

Shinji couldn't comprehend the other's pained looks. He thought it was brilliant.

"Your host tonight: Misato Katsuragi," the voice announced, and Misato responded with a curtsey.

"Thank you, thank you," said the Captain. "Please take a seat and make yourself comfortable. We've got much to talk about tonight. Makoto, please bring in the beverages."

The door to the meeting room slid open, and in walked Makoto Hyuga with a trolley loaded with beer, wine, and other liquid refreshments both hard and soft alike.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ritsuko scream. "Captain Katsuragi, have you gone completely out of your mind?"

"Don't worry, Ritsuko," Misato said as she grabbed herself a can of beer. Makoto was serving out refreshments to other officers present and Shinji, being under-aged, managed to land himself some cola. "I'm not any crazier than I already was. Besides, given our presently dire situation, there is exactly fudge-all anyone here can do about it. This meeting was bound to be a tragedy from the start."

"That is not the case at all. We've got to take stock of our current resources, our newest intel on the enemy, and draw up some contingencies in case we come under attack before our repairs are completed."

"So a longer, more verbose version of a damage report? That's what I meant by a tragedy. Everyone here knows how bad we have it, and everyone knows that if the Angels attack tomorrow then – short of a miracle – we lose. Game Over. Humanity's done. Every tragedy starts off on a high note though, so I figure we'd have some of that note in our blood going in." Misato pointed at all the liquid sugar and alcohol being passed about. "Repairs are already going as fast as it possibly could. Unit-00 began the thawing process this afternoon. Rei is recovering just fine and she'll be able to retry the activation sequence in a couple more days. There is nothing to be said here we didn't already know or aren't already doing. Oh, except for yours though, Ritsuko. No beer for you."

"Kill me…." Ritsuko sigh. "… anyways, can we just skip ahead to my part then? I'd like to be done with this farce and get back to some of my actual work."

"Right, right!" Misato said with a wink, then took a stance. "Ladies and gentlemen, for tonight's feature presentation: Dr. Akagi Ritsuko, chief of Project-E!"

Shinji noticed there was actually a soft round of applause this time.

Ritsuko walked up to the front while Misato took her seat. The slide switched to a logo of Project-E, above which the title of the talk was displayed: 'Absolute Terror Field.'

"Esteemed colleagues," Ritsuko began, "thank you for joining me this evening. Today, I have the pleasure of declassifying newly discovered information concerning the A.T. field. Previously classified as level 3, information concerning this unusual phenomenon is being reduced to level 2: internally disclosed information. If you need to share this knowledge with any of your subordinates, MAGI file 17-B should now contain a previously hidden item 5. Please alert your company as you see fit."

Ritsuko then began to describe the A.T. field – illustrating her point with some data, charts and photographs captured during the Angel encountered a fortnight ago. Misato took a long drink from her can; as one of the higher ranked officers, she had seen item 5 ever since it was still classified in file 17-C. Oh well, at least the pictures were pretty – in a morbid we're-surely-all-going-to-die sort of way.

"…and that concludes today's presentation. I will now open up the floor for any questions the audience may have."

A number of hands shot up, and Ritsuko began addressing them one by one.

"…Yes. All damage. N2 bombs don't even scratch them. A.T field's defense are, just as the name suggest, completely absolute."

"…No, I didn't come up with the name. The moniker is a left-over from the Artificial Evolution Labs days. In retrospect, whoever coined it had a right to be terrified indeed."

"…That would be amazing, if we could do something like that. A.T. field's violation of energy conservation does motivate us to think about a perpetual motion machine. Unfortunately, the only source of A.T. field at our disposal are the Evas; and those take power to operate. In that regards, our A.T. field is a slight misnomer – it is nowhere near as absolute as the Angel's."

"…Yes, into spherical harmonics, just like any other field. Our limited power allows the Eva to do the first couple orders of approximation, but this is getting a little too complicated for everyone else. I'll be glad to tell you more after cla- after the conference."

"…Yes. The Eva's field neutralizes the Angel's, and that's why Evas are our only weapon that can damage the enemy… Huh? What do you mean? Could you repeat the question? Wait… you!"

Ritsuko stared at the inquirer, the young boy chosen as the Third Children, and the number four biggest source of her headache these past two weeks.

"How did you get in here? This is supposed to be a classified meeting for NERV officers! How long have you been there?" Ritsuko shrieked at her charge.

"Since the beginning, actually." Shinji answered casually. It was dark, and when it wasn't, Ritsuko was busy staring a hole through Misato's forehead; so going unnoticed by her until now was within the realm of possibility. "And I'm here because Fuyutsuki told me to attend. I even asked YOU and you said it was fine. Maya, can you back me up?"

Her assistant nodded, and Ritsuko blamed her ninth cup of coffee today. "Anyways, what was that question?"

"I said: 'Are Evas the only weapon that can damage our enemy, or the only weapon that can neutralize the A.T. Field?'" Shinji asked. "I mean, given our observation, we can explain what we saw using either situation. But if we didn't fixate on the explanations right away, then we realize these solutions are slightly different, right?"

By now the room had gone completely silent.

"Err. Hello?"

"Shinji, that's genius." Ritsuko said.

"Huh? What do you mean? I didn't say anything contradictory, right? I made sure!"

"No! Don't you see? Don't you get it?" Ritsuko was shouting now. "The Evas have never _directly_ inflicted damage against the Angels! They've always been equipped with guns, prog-knives, or – even if unarmed – regular conventional alloy making up their gloves! If these items could damage the Angels, then it's because Eva neutralized the A.T. field allowing them to connect! There's no reason we can't provide fire-support using conventional weaponry while the Eva confronts the enemy up close!"

"But… but… what if the Eva have to use the weapons themselves?" Shinji stammered.

"No! That would be even better! The knives, the guns, they're just up-scaled conventional weapons designed for Evas anyways; and they aren't used in any more fundamental a way than 'thrust' or 'pull a trigger'. We can just as easily build 'rocket launchers' or 'cruise missile battery array' designed to be 'used' by the Eva, if somehow the actual penetrative property was magically carried by use."

"…"

"Shinji, you've just opened up an entire new selection of arsenals we could use against the Angels."

The room broke out in applause. People were standing and cheering.

"… But…. My question… it was just commons-"Shinji never did finish that sentence given that Misato had, somehow, gotten up from her chair – leapt across the table – and caught him in a skull-cracking bear hug.

"This meeting is officially over!" Misato shouted. "This new information is classified at level 2, so tell all your subordinates at once and see if they can't exploit it. Ritsuko, please look into this immediately. Makoto, see if the JSSDF wouldn't mind lending us some of their heavy weaponries again. Shigeru, please inform the senior commanders at once. Everyone, let's go!"

"Yes ma'am!"

As everyone crowded to leave, Ritsuko caught up to Shinji for a little talk.

"Shinji, that was brilliant! Well done today. Sorry I still can't take you home tonight. I knew I was going to have a long night again, but I didn't expect to be spend it on something good." Ritsuko said with joy.

"I'm happy," Shinji said, "but what I said wasn't anything genius or ground breaking. You would've noticed it too if you saw the problem with fresh eyes. Unlike me, you're actually smart; you were just entrenched in that model from the evolutions lab guys."

"I know," Ritsuko responded, "but you couldn't have said it either had you been 'foolish'. You didn't just eat up what I said in my presentation. I wonder if that's why your father had chosen you to be here. Maybe he wanted to give me a pair of fresh eyes that didn't cloud so easily?"

.

.

.

"Shinji?"

"My father has influence over Marduk?!"

* * *

_This concludes the beginning arc. Doesn't it seem like things are coming to light far earlier than usual? It's more fun that way and the author hopes you agree._


	4. It's no hypocrisy to be selfish

The Geofront is a massive underground cavern discovered beneath the northern shores of Lake Ashino; within Hakone, Kanagawa prefecture. The cavern, a natural fortress with close proximity to ports and other vital military installation, was deemed the perfect location for a new capital city in a post-second impact world. So much so that, despite Tokyo-2's incorporation less than a decade prior, construction of a new high-tech city above an easily defended subterranean hollow was carried out with no expenses spared. Although presently Tokyo-2 remained the official capital, what with all of Japan's military and administrative power still located there, vital agencies are opening branch offices in Tokyo-3 with clear intent of shifting their operational center within the near future. For now, the only agency based wholly out of Tokyo-3 was NERV, who therefore enjoys unrestricted authority within the Geofront cavern itself.

_- Classified Information File#0000017-A, item 03. "Tokyo-3 Above, Geofront below"; Security clearance level 1: Publically Released Information_

Tokyo-3 First Municipal Middle School is the first institution of primary/post-primary education to be officially incorporated into the newly established Tokyo-3 municipal district. Despite the name, it is not the first such entity in the region; the towns of Ubako and Sengokuhara that formerly occupied the location housed many similar institute of learning before Tokyo-3 ever began development. The school provides education from grade 1 through 9 but, unfortunately and like many others in the region, saw drastically reduced attendance rate since the first Angel invasion. Notable for its proximity to the Geofront, it is an open secret that many sons and daughters of NERV employees are in attendance. Consequently, questions and inquiries concerning family background are restricted as a matter of courtesy.

_- Classified Information File#0055512-A, item 01. "Tokyo-3 First Municipal Middle School"; Security clearance level 1: Publically Released Information_

* * *

"Wake up…."

Huh?

"….Wake up, Shinji…"

Who is…ah…

"…munya munya…" Shinji mumbles.

"Wake up, Shinji. You're going to be late." The voice range out.

Shinji opened his eyes a crack, then bolted straight up in his bed. There was two woman standing in his room. That was two more woman than he expected to wake up to in a place like this.

"Ritsuko! What's going on? And who is that?" Shinji's glance darted from the blond-hair woman to the pale looking girl standing next to her. A pale looking girl with blue hair and very freaky looking red eyes.

"Shinji, this is Ayanami Rei, the First children and the other pilot under my care. Rei, meet Shinji."

The blue girl gave a short reply and a curt nod.

Shinji stared at the girl, a look of shock and confusion on his face. After several seconds, Shinji straightened up, looked at Ritsuko, and spoke.

"What's wrong with her hair?"

Ritsuko grabbed a bed post for support.

"My god. You've been awake for 2-minutes and you're doing it already."

"Doing what?"

"Forget I said anything. I worked all night on your theory _and_ I managed to complete your transfer paper, but this is the kind of gratitude I get?"

"Transfer paper?"

"For school! Don't think you're excused from school just because you're some special employee of NERV, young man. Your first day of class is today, and Rei here is going to show you how to get there."

Shinji glanced back at Rei and noticed that, despite her school uniform, she still had enough bandages wrapped around her to make King Tut proud.

"Should she be going out like that?"

"Look, Shinji," Ritsuko said to the boy with a sigh. "Rei is fine, and I'm less worried for her than whether you turn your school into a smoldering crater today. Rei, would you kindly give Shinji his uniform and his book bag? Then you may wait outside until we're done."

After the girl has left the room, Ritsuko walked up to Shinji and grabbed him by his collar.

"Listen to me, Shinji. You are not going to give her any funny ideas, and you are most definitely not going to tell her about Marduk. She is the only pilot we have right now, and she is going to retry Unit-00's activation tomorrow. I do not need whatever it was that made you refuse your duty to start growing in her head as well."

Ritsuko still couldn't believe that Shinji figured out the situation with Marduk. What she said last night about Gendo's choice had to do with Shinji's placement under her care, and how he could see things a little differently if fed enough technical information. Shinji had, however, interpreted it as his entire purpose at NERV and immediately connected it with Marduk – and with regards to Gendo's influence he wasn't even wrong.

Letting go of Shinji, Ritsuko began to walk towards the door.

"Anyways, it's fortunate that Rei was feeling well enough today to go to school. I've made sure you're in the same class as each other, so it'll be easier if one of you need to miss school occasionally. She'll meet you at the escalators out of NERV, so don't keep her waiting. School begins in a little more than an hour, and I imagine that you'd like to get there early. Grab breakfast in the cafeteria if you're hungry."

And with that, Ritsuko left the room; leaving Shinji to consider this new development in his life.

* * *

The trip to school was a short train ride away, and the journey provided some room for Shinji to collect his thoughts. His guide wasn't acting very talkative, so Shinji figured it was a good time to go over what he knew and what his next move might be.

The revelation that he got last night told him surprisingly little. Before he came to know about Marduk, Shinji had always thought that NERV selected their own pilots – and obviously his father was in control of NERV. Now that Shinji knows for a fact that his father can select the pilots, Shinji can… well…

Wasn't that exactly what everybody who didn't know about Marduk – which was everyone unaffiliated with NERV and many people who were – thinking already?

So why was the true puppet-master of Marduk such a big deal?

And if it was such a big deal, then why does Ritsuko know about it? In fact, who else might know about this so called 'big deal'?

Shinji had looked up the name of the Marduk Institute – if nothing else, he can admit that it was a pretty cool name – and found some information about an old Babylonian god. That doesn't help him at all. If they'd just wanted a cool name for a company that chose pilots who kills Angels then, well, Shinji would've gone with Heaven-Piercing-Power-Squadron or something sacrilegious like that. Why a god?

He would need to see if he can get some more out of Ritsuko. Shinji doubted it though – she was usually good about classified information, and if he needed to make a major revelation each time he wanted to drop her guards, then he might as well give up now.

And speaking of things that didn't make much sense right now: school. Why does he have to go to school? Weren't they in the middle of an alien invasion? Shouldn't everyone be pulling their own weight? And why did Ritsuko finish his transfer application today of all days? Was it to snip his growing influence after last night's performance in the bud? Just how in league with Gendo was she anyways?

Nothing was making sense, and Shinji tried to restrain himself from jumping to conclusion. He would need to gather more information if he wanted to make heads or tails from any of this; and this stupid school thing was going to take so many hours out of his day.

Guh.

Well, there was at least some things he could do while at school. Being out of the Geofront all day doesn't mean he can stop working on his ascent to power.

* * *

Kensuke Aida was a little early for class today. He was filming some scenes on his camcorder when Hikari Horaki, the designated class representative for 2-A, abruptly came up to him.

"What's up, class rep?" Kensuke inquired

"Did you give him yesterday's printouts?" Hikari retorted.

"Erm… there didn't seem to be anybody at Toji's house." Kensuke replied.

"Kensuke, you're Toji's friend right? Aren't you worried? He's been absent for two weeks!"

As if on cue, the classroom's door slid open and in walked Toji Suzuhara.

"Toji!" both Kensuke and Hikari said with a jump. "Where have you been?"

"My little sister was injured in the robot incident two weeks ago," Toji explained to his friend. "Both my dad and granddad couldn't get away from the lab, so I've been with her in the hospital since then."

Toji threw his bag onto his desk, before grabbing a chair across from his friends.

"Goddamn that stupid robot. If they had any idea what they were doing, my sister wouldn't be hurt the way she was. I swear, if I ever figure out who the pig behind it was, I'm going to give them a taste of my homemade knuckle sandwich."

"I'm so glad you're alright, Toji," Hikari spoke out. "I was afraid that you might've moved away like so many other people in our class."

"Nah," Toji replied, "with my sister the way she is, I'm not leaving anytime soon. So who's still around?"

"Mostly just the folks you see," Hikari answered. "Rei just came back for the first time today too. She must've been hurt pretty badly as well."

"Really? She still looks pretty hurt to me." Toji said. "I wouldn't have come to school if I was busted up that much. What an odd girl."

"You know what's really odd though?" Kensuke chimed in. "We're supposed to have a new transfer student today. Everybody's leaving town and here comes this new student moving in. I wonder if they might be connected to the NERV somehow."

"Yeah? Well if they're the pilot, I'm going to-"

At that moment, the homeroom teacher walked in – so Toji went back to his seat. After salutations were carried out, the teacher went up to the podium and began talking.

"Ahh… We have a new student transferring in to join us today," the old man said. "I hope you will all welcome him warmly. Now then, why don't you come in and introduce yourself?"

Kensuke watch as an average looking boy, of an average looking height, with an average looking disposition walked in. _Doesn't look very exceptional_, his inner critic commented, _does this student really have anything to do with NERV?_

The transfer walked up to the board and wrote his name. 'Shinji Ikari', it read.

"Hello everybody," the boy said with a smile. "My name is Shinji Ikari, and I'm transferring into this school because I work for NERV."

The classroom, previously silent, was now _silent_.

"I was chosen as a pilot for one of the robots that defeated the monster two weeks ago, and I've been in training ever since."

"Eh?!" The class gasped in unison.

"Don't look at me like that though! I haven't actually piloted anything yet. The person who actually saved you guys back then was Rei Ayanami. She's really brave! Even though she got hurt, she'll protect you again if any more monsters turn up."

"Huhh?!" said half the class, while the other half's head snapped to look in Rei's direction.

"Anyways due to the nature of my work, I'm not allowed to disclose too much information." Shinji continued. "But my employer does hope to receive the good will of the public. So on their behalf, I'll be happy to acquire for you a range of NERV branded merchandises. I picked up a couple brochures from their employee store earlier this morning, so come talk to me later if you want to take a look. The coffee mug is really cool, and I've been meaning to get one myself. I look forward to making your acquaintance."

And with that, the transfer student took a bow and walked over to the empty desk behind Rei Ayanami.

That was when the riot began.

Typing into his laptop, Kensuke couldn't help sending a taunting message to Toji: 'You still feel like punching your little pig in the snout to establish dominance?'

The reply said only one word: 'die.'

* * *

Shinji was standing on the roof of the school building. Next to him stood Rei Ayanami, silent and emotionless as always. His introductory speech had produced the exact effect he was hoping for: establishing himself as an agent of NERV and, more specifically, one of the _good_ guys. As soon as the teacher and the class rep got everybody back under control, class proceeded as normally as it could until recess started; at which point the whirlwind started up again. Shinji was glad to talk and show his classmates the merchandise brochure. He knew that many of his colleagues were sons and daughters of NERV employee and, if they saw an avenue to learn about the supposedly secret duty their parents have to mankind, they will gravitate towards it like middle school students towards hot gossip. Children are like an expressway to their parent's heart, and who was Shinji to deny his friends the joy of understanding how important their parent's sacrifice to humanity was? If he could gain influence over NERV through some external means and sell some mugs to support the war economy along the way, then so be it.

There was a downside to this strategy, however, and that was how Rei would get caught in the spotlight as well. Unlike Shinji, Rei didn't react well when exposed to that much attention; so when the boy noticed that his co-worker was suffering immensely under pressure, he had excused himself, asked a bespectacled classmate to note down any merchandise orders, and grabbed the girl away for a private discussion.

That's why they were here now: on top of the school building, gazing out towards the skyline of Tokyo-3. Shinji turned towards his taciturn co-pilot, and apologized.

"Sorry about that, Rei," Shinji said. "That got a little out of hand. But you're gonna be popular now! The boys will come to flirt and flounce! Besides, I really needed to drive an impression. I hope that's understandable."

Rei nodded.

"Anyways, once we're back in class, you can tell them you'd rather not talk about it. Just wave any questions they have my way instead, and I'll get them off your back."

Rei nodded again.

"You're still angry at me, aren't you? I'm sorry! Can I treat you to a meal sometime as atonement? I've been meaning to ask you about Evas and how you came to be the First Children as well. Would that be alright?"

Rei nodded yet again.

"You don't talk much, do you?"

Rei remained silent.

"Listen, I'm going to go back to class now. If there's anything bothering you, let me know and I'll try to sort it out, ok?

Shinji started heading for the stairs, replaying his last conversation in his head – if it could even be called one. What an odd girl. She seems awfully timid for someone who pilots a death machine. Shinji knew she was much braver than him: she's willing to go back in the Eva after her last fight. Even before that, wasn't she already injured from the activations tests as well? Shinji's mind raced as he pondered the implication. What is the girl thinking? Getting torn up like that can't be good for her life expectancy, and she was just going to step into the fray again tomorrow and ask for one more? This was a suicidal girl if he ever saw one. Shouldn't he try to dissuade her from killing herself?

Ritsuko's word flashed in his mind: "I do not need whatever it was that made you refuse your duty to start growing in her head..." It doesn't take a genius to realize that, if Rei doesn't go into the robot, then the other able-bodied pilot NERV has recruited would be forced to step up in her place.

Shinji didn't like it at all. Was there anything he could do? He could walk away, leave the girl to her fate, and it would be the smart decision. But was it really the smart decision? What if she actually did die? Would he then be dooming himself as either a test subject or a gear inside a humungous mecha? Shinji supposed he _could_ run away, but then the Angels would win and he would still be doomed regardless.

Shinji noticed that he was confused.

What does he think he know, and how did he come to know it? On the topic of Rei, Shinji has observed her agreeing to a task that's potentially fatal, even though she had already experience first-hand how dangerous it can be. _Perhaps she doesn't care that it's fatal then_, Shinji's internal analyzer responded,_ if she has something she values above living, and piloting Eva allows her to obtain it, then it all makes sense._ _So the follow-up question then_, pondered Shinji's internal prosecutor, _is what she could possibly value above living? Does she know something we don't?_

Good point. Only one way to find out.

Shinji turned around and went back towards Rei, who had been staring at him this entire time. _I'm just going to ask her why she does it_, he reasoned, _I'm not going to ask her to stop, and that way I'm at no risk of Ritsuko decapitating me and putting my brain in a vat either._ Walking up to the chain linked fence, Shinji look at the other Eva pilot, and asked her the question that's been on his mind.

"Rei, why do you pilot the Eva?"

Unsurprisingly, Rei did not respond.

This was going to take a little work. "Rei, I'm serious. You're a braver girl than I am. I took one look at that robot, and I ran away. I don't have the balls to go in there and fight the Angels. I'm too afraid of getting hurt, too afraid of dying. You, on the other hand, you keep on soldiering even after the Eva has hurt you so much. What's driving you? What makes you get up after you've been injured so badly? I ask because…well… I ask because whatever it is you have, I don't have it, and maybe if I know what I'm missing, then maybe, just maybe, I can do it too."

Rei stared back at Shinji with her freaky red eyes and, after a moment's pause, answered.

"Huh? That can't be right," Shinji stammered. "What do you mean 'it's an order and you have nothing else but to do it'?"

So Rei answered again, in greater detail this time.

Shinji pondered her answered much more carefully this time round, now that he was sure he hasn't misheard.

"Rei, I'm going to ask you a very unusual question, so don't get offended by this." Shinji prefaced in such a way that, had he been talking to anybody else, would have telegraphed the offensiveness of his question from a mile away. "But would you happen to be… well…"

Those red eyes stared at him, merciless and unblinking.

"Would you happen to be a robot?"

For several seconds the two Children stared at each other.

Finally, Rei shook her head.

"Ok," Shinji responded. He had been very VERY afraid for a while there.

"Actually no. Not ok. Not ok at all. What do you mean you were born to pilot Eva? What do you mean you have no reason to live if you can't fulfill your purpose? That's so preposterous, it's not even wrong! You make it sound like you've been indoctrinated all your life to believe that piloting Eva was the only thing you could ever aspire to do!"

Rei kept her gaze fixed. Her expression hard and unchanging.

"Look, people go about their lives, and there is an endless pool of possibility before them. They see this pool, realize that it's too big for them to comprehend, so they choose one option out of those vast infinities and call it their purpose. Or they run into an obstacle they can't understand and, fearing what it means to adapt and re-strategize, they give up and call it destiny. But nobody is ever born with a destiny! The only thing anybody has when they're born is themselves! They might be born _into_ a situation, but the only thing they _have_ with them is themselves!"

Shinji took a step closer to Rei who, of course, neither flinched nor stepped away.

"So you can't just say it's your purpose. You can't just resign yourself to other people's order and let it be. No! That would be a complete betrayal of yourself. _Start_ from yourself. Start by saying 'what do I want, and what do I need to do to get it?' If you then want others to be happy, if you then want others to live and be successful, then go ahead and work so others can live and be happy and successful. But don't do it because someone else told you! Do it because it's what you want and by accomplishing it you _also_ become happy. Look at me for crying out loud! I didn't pilot the Eva because _I_ didn't want to die. I plan to take over NERV because _I_ want humanity to live. I'm giving you this rant because _I_ want you to stop betraying yourself. Nobody told me any of these was my purpose, quite the contrary! I do these things because it makes me happy. Don't you see? It's no hypocrisy to be selfish because my self is the _only_ thing I have. Being selfish is not synonymous with being foolish or a scrooge. It's just that when I choose to give or help or assist in some other way, it's because I have chosen them as the course of action which gives me the most satisfaction."

Shinji backs off, and starts towards the stairs again.

"Rei," he said, "if you lead your life by betraying yourself all the time, then you'll lead a very miserable and unsatisfying one indeed. Don't let your life be dictated by purpose, rather let your purpose come forth naturally as a result of living your life."

And as Shinji was about to leave down the stairs in a dramatic, flashy, and very bad-ass manner, the sudden ringing of his cellphone almost made him lose his balance. Barely grabbing the handrails in time, Shinji noticed that Rei's phone was ringing too; though the girl picked it up in a much more graceful manner than he did.

"Hello," Shinji answered into the phone. This can't be good.

"Shinji, this is Misato. Is Rei there?"

"Yes, she is." Uh oh.

"Come back to Nerv immediately. She is to activate Unit-00 at once."

"What's going on?"

"We've just detected a new Angel on its way."

"What? No! Misato, Unit-00 isn't even online yet! What are we going to do?"

"We pray that your plan last night works, Shinji. Because right now, even if Unit-00 activates, there is no way she can beat an Angel in a straight up fight."

* * *

**_H.I.P. Alternatives: _**_(R__ead at your own risk. The author accepts no responsibility for face palms or loss of faith in humanity)_

_Shinji pondered her answered much more carefully this time round, now that he was sure he hadn't misheard._

"_Rei, I'm going to ask you a very unusual question, so don't get offended by this." Shinji prefaced in such a way that, had he been talking to anybody else, would have telegraphed the offensiveness of his question from a mile away. "But would you happen to be… well…"_

_Those red eyes stared at him, merciless and unblinking._

"_Would you happen to be a clinically insane?"_

* * *

"_Would you happen to be a man?"_

* * *

"_Would you happen to be my mummy?"_

* * *

"_Would you happen to be a twilight fangirl?"_

* * *

"_Would you happen to be a Bieber fangirl?"_

* * *

"_Would you happen to be a Backstreet Boys fangirl?"_

* * *

"_Would you happen to be a Masochist?"_

* * *

"_Would you happen to be a robot?"_

_For several seconds the two Children stared at each other._

_Finally, Rei shook her head._

_Then shook it harder._

_Then her head detached from her body, which began to transform – sprouting metallic wings, a jet pack, an extra pair of arms, a number of gauges and a large machine guns._

"_You have discovered our identity." The head vocalized. "You will be taken to our mothership, the white-moon. There you shall be decontaminated, analyzed, probed, and then EXTERMINATED."_

_Shinji stared at the entity formerly known as Rei, and said: "WTF?"_

_He was never seen or heard from again._

* * *

"_Would you happen to be a pickle?" _

_For several seconds the two Children stared at each other._

_Finally, Rei turned into a pickle._


	5. Home-field advantage

The Japanese Strategic Self Defense Force (JSSDF) is a military organization formed in 2003 under direct supervision of the Japanese Ministry of Defense. Ratified after Article 9 of the Japanese constitution – prohibiting the nation from maintaining an offensive military – was repeal, the JSSDF was originally intended to serve as a deterrent against hostile action in a period of rising tension between neighboring countries; particularly in regards to the Nansha Islands. A highly armed, highly disciplined organization in the present day, the JSSDF has a close relationship with the militias of the UN; augmenting any local UN operation with resources of their own.

_- Classified Information File#0000012-A, item 30. "Japanese Strategic Self Defense Force"; Security clearance level 1: Publicly Release Information_

The United Nations (UN) is a global organization founded in 1945 to foster world collaboration and maintain international peace and integrity. Since Second Impact, however, the UN has become heavily militarized in response to wide-spread conflicts across the globe. Commanding the unified militia of several member's nation, the organization maintains a significant standing Army, Navy, and Air-force; operating under the direct command of the Security Council. The UN serves as the aegis of humanity, suppressing acts of war and insurgency on an international scale. It also funds several major research, development, and service initiatives to improve the prosperity of humankind.

_- Classified Information File#0000012-A, item 25. "United Nations"; Security clearance level 1: Publicly Release Information_

* * *

The darkness was soothing. The silence, profound. In this primordial void, a conscious entity drifted through the deep. The entity submerged its awareness in the warmth. Feeling liquid in its lung; the gentle engulf as life osmoses directly into its veins. There was no urge nor desire, not even the necessity of breathing. A familiar, comforting scent; though one did not know from whence nor why. It was comfortable. Blissful. A place where none existed but oneself.

_Start from yourself._

"Myself. I." The entity thought. "Who am I?"

_You are yourself._

"What do I want?" The entity continued. "And why do I want it?"

_That is up to yourself_

"What do I have? What do I know?"

_You have yourself. That much you know._

"What can I do? Where should I go?"

_You can do whatever you will, and will wherever you go._

"When should I start? Who should I fear?"

_You can start when you're ready. You have no one else to fear._

"What do I learn? How do I decide?"

_For that, you must go forth and decide. For that, you must rise up and learn._

"How can I go forth? How do I rise?"

_You must open your eyes, and awaken_

"How?"

_Open your eyes, and awaken._

"Open my eyes, and awaken?"

_Open your eyes, and awaken._

"Open my eyes, and awaken."

_Open your/my eyes, and awaken._

"_Open my/your eyes, and awaken."_

Open our eyes, and awaken.

The entity known as Rei Ayanami opened her eyes.

And the entity known as Evangelion Unit-00 awakened.

* * *

Misato hung up the phone, and turned to face Shinji. "The activation was successful," said the Captain. "I hope that makes you feel better."

Shinji breathed a sigh of relief. That's step one of mission impossible. "I am, thanks Misato." The boy spoke. "Where's the Angel now? How much time do we have?"

"The Angel is crossing Lake Ashino right now," Makoto Hyuga replied. The big screen floating above the command center switch to a picture of the tranquil lake. A large purple monstrosity floated over its surface. "At its present velocity, the Angel will make landfall on Tokyo-3 within ten minutes."

Shinji turned back to Misato. "What's the plan?" He asked. "Do we have the support of the JSSDF?"

"Of course we do," Misato cheerily replied. "Just who the hell do you think we are? The UN has given us limited authority over the JSSDF forces. We've got all sorts of guns, tanks, VTOLs and artilleries stationed around the city's perimeter" The Captain's mouth pursed into a grin. "No N2 bomb, however. No way they'd authorize something like that to an external agency. Besides, dropping one of those on Tokyo-3 somewhat defeats our purpose."

"What about the UN itself? Do we have any weaponry or support from their standing armies?"

"The UN has no real military presence on Japanese soil," Shigeru Aoba responded. "But their naval fleet is scrambling here as quickly as they can. They're making record time already."

At that moment, Ritsuko Akagi and Maya Ibuki walked into the command center. They wasted no time joining Misato and the rest of the operator on the command deck.

"So, Ritsuko, won't you share this brilliant plan you have with the rest of us?" Misato said. "How badly does Unit-00 look?"

"She's barely operational," the lead scientist answered. "We had to halt the thawing process part-ways, which means all of her limbs are still frostbitten. She'll neither be able to walk nor operate any weaponry."

"What? How are we going to fight the Angel like that?" Misato was justifiably concerned and surprised.

"Easy, easy," Ritsuko tried to calm her down. "We're not out of luck just yet. Essentially my plan is to fight the Angel on our own turf, so we have home-field advantage and all that it implies. The Eva, crippled as it may be, can still project its own A.T. Field. So if the Ikari conjecture is–"

"Wait a sec: the Ikari conjecture?" Shinji eyed the science officer with confusion.

"That's the name I've designated to the conjecture you made last night," Ritsuko said with a grin. "In fewer words, we're going to see if the Angel can be hurt using conventional weapons – once their A.T. Field is neutralized. If all goes well, we'll just need to get the Angel close to Unit-00 before we can bombard it to kingdom come."

Ristuko turned towards the main screen, before glancing back at her charge once more. "Smile, Shinji! Instead of just a conjecture, you'll have a theorem named after you tonight if things work out."

_I'm happy enough with a conjecture_, thought Shinji, _just let us survive long enough to cherish it._

"That's all fine and dandy. However, you're forgetting one important point." Misato interrupted. "Unit-00 can't walk, let alone run. How is Rei going to get within a hundred meter of the Angel? Keep in mind the Angel is probably going to counter-attack with devastating weaponry like the first one we encountered. And if you're suggesting we wait until it comes close enough to Rei to suicide bomb her, I'm calling everything off and N2-ing Tokyo from orbit. At least that way we can defrost her legs while the Angel is distracted by the lights and colors."

"Fascinating. I never thought of using the Eva as straight up bait." Ritsuko had a smirk creeping up on her face. "But rest assure, I had no intention of sacrificing Unit-00. Behold the power of having home-field advantage! Just let me take care of this operation, and I'll show you how its done. Trust me!"

Misato eyed her colleague suspiciously, but didn't refuse. So Ritsuko continued: "Maya, has the Angel arrive in Tokyo-3 yet?"

"It will make landfall within 40 seconds." Her assistant replied from the operator's terminal. "Dr. Akagi, are you sure about this."

"Of course I am," answered Ritsuko before handing a thumb drive over to her. "Please load the following algorithms up to the MAGI computers."

Grabbing an intercom, the chief science officer prepared to issue orders to the rest of the NERV personnel. "Everybody, this is Akagi Ritsuko, Chief of Project E and head of the science department. I have a strategy that'll defeat our enemy today, but I need all of your cooperation if we're to succeed. Can I trust you to perform to the best of your ability in humanity's darkest hour?"

"Yes ma'am!" The command center responded.

"Brilliant! If you don't have an automatic clock at your terminal, please sync your watch to me on my mark. It is 14:53 and….mark. Rei, are you ready?"

A firm reply answered them. The view-screen cut to a feed of Unit-00; ready for deployment in the hangar.

"Excellent. Shigeru, inform the JSSDF that we're about to begin our attack; and that they're to sync all their chronometer to JST with an accuracy down to the millisecond. They will follow our orders and open fire on command from the MAGI super computer. Everybody else, at your stations!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Shinji watched as the chief science officer lorded over what would otherwise be Misato's domain. Looking from each operator, to the big screen, to the queen commanding her army, Shinji felt a mixed sense of fear and pride. _If she's in the way of my ascent to power_, quipped the boy's internal analyzer, _this might be more challenging that I thought._

Ritsuko waited until she got the sync confirmation from the JSSDF. The moment couldn't come soon enough

"All right, that's it!" The Science chief finally announced. "We're ready to go! Let's show this Angel it stirred up the wrong beehive. Maya, prepare Rei for launch."

"Prepped and ready, ma'am!"

"Let the games begin then! Operation Wakamoru: Start!"

* * *

Far above the Geofront, on the fortified surface of Tokyo-3, a large monstrous entity floated over rows and rows of suburban building. The Angel noticed a mechanical sound and, turning towards an otherwise non-distinct part of an empty street, observed just in time a rectangular chute rocketing out of the ground – deploying Evangelion Unit-00 within.

The Angel reared back, poised and prepared.

Suddenly a hailstorm of shells, missiles and artillery barrage – appearing seemingly out of nowhere – slammed into the monstrous creature. The Angel recoiled from impact as a thick cloud of smoke obscured everything from sight.

Two flash of neon swipes shone out, cutting even the billows of smoke in twain. The veil parted, revealing two tentacle of light sprouting from either side of the Angel. The Angel, ready to engage its target, charges forward to the space where Unit-00 was…

Where Unit-00 was no longer occupying.

The Angel snapped around, wary that its adversary has completely vanished. The orange giant was gone, nary a trace that it had been there in the first place.

There was a mechanical sound again, and the Angel was barely fast enough to notice Eva Unit-00 pop out of another unmarked piece of landscape. As soon as the Angel has readied its whip, however, another barrage of artillery bombardment rammed into its back. A flash of light struck forward, and the clouds part to reveal…

Nothing. Eva-00 was gone, and the Angel stagger as its wounded shell begin to bubble. It had taken noticeable damage and, as its regeneration module began to kick in, another mechanical sound started up.

This time Angel reacted like lightning, swinging its whip through a nearby building which splits in two like a torn piece of paper.

As the building fell apart from each other, the metallic layer revealed underneath a worn and battered cavity housing precisely nothing.

Nothing except for an empty hole, stretching down darkly into the unseeing depths.

The Angel readies itself again, waiting for the next indicator of its slippery adversary.

There was five mechanical sounds.

* * *

Misato was watching the scene before her with glee. They were doing it! They were holding the Angel back! They had reduced the monster's advance to a crawl, and they were inflicting significant, noticeable damage to the Angel for every inch they gave. Most importantly, however, they were doing it all with a crippled Eva, a load of conventional weaponry, and a really really smart algorithm on a really really powerful supercomputer.

"Eva Unit-00 has retreated down shaft 6A!" Makoto shouted from his terminal.

"Preparing for re-entry using 3K through P as decoy! Unit-00 is transferring over to elevator 2F!" Maya reported after her colleague.

"Company Echo is requesting permission to re-arm! Victor and Alpha is ready to re-engage; standing by for orders from the MAGI system!" Shigeru was relaying information from the JSSDF to the command center.

"Have November cover for Echo while they're re-arming," Ritsuko was reading a stream of data from her MAGI console. "Tell Roger Company they are to begin attacking 15.3 seconds past the minute. Eva-00 will emerge 3.0 seconds after that; the A.T. Field will be neutralized just in time for mortar impact. Maya, recalculate aiming trajectory for Company Victor. The Angel has moved slightly since we last transmitted."

Misato was lauding the splendor before her eyes. Here was what a tightly run ship should look like; the epitome of Japanese Just-In-Time operation. The JSSDF, slightly out of the loop due to the separation between theirs and NERV's encryption system, was really the only bottle-neck in the works. She made a mental note to request a secure translation system between them at the next strategy meeting. If this operation succeeds – and it's looking pretty likely – they're going to be doing it again very very often. Even if the Angel crawls to the Geofront's zenith, even if all its body and limb hasn't all fallen apart by then, there was no way it can burrow through all 22-layers of plate armor blocking the way. It doesn't matter if they're fighting Heracles. Even if he earned an extra life for each of his twelve task, it still wouldn't be enough to survive such a sustained barrage of modern weaponry.

"Shinji, you might get your theorem after all," the Captain said to boy, her face beaming with a smile. "From now on, you're allowed to crash as many of my strategy meetings as you want."

"The Angel has change courses, it's heading away from the zenith of the Geofront!" Makoto announced. "Captain, it looks like the enemy is retreating! We've driven them off!"

"The Angel is fleeing into the mountains. We did it! We've held the line!" Maya shouted into the room.

_Yes!_ Misato thought. _Yes! This is how good coordination wins war._

The Captain watch as the enemy retreated from the city. As soon as it was clear the Angel had moved back towards the outskirts of town, Misato stepped toward the edge of the command deck, and spoke.

"The enemy is routed," Misato boomed. "The honor today goes to you, officers of NERV and the JSSDF. We held off the enemy using pure tenacity and a well-greased engine. Victory is ours!"

A cheer echoed through the hollowed command center. It was joined by much clapping and whistling.

Misato took a step back, and took a long breather. "Shinji, good job with the conjecture!" The Captain happily said as she turned to the boy. "Tonight's dinner is on m-"

Her sentence was cut off by the abject horror she saw on his face. Shinji was staring at the topology map, which showed the location of Tokyo-3, Eva-00, the Angel, and every active company the JSSDF had deployed.

Misato turned to Ritsuko, and saw the she, too, was frozen in fear. Her clipboard slips resistance-less out of her hands and clatter to the floor.

"Tell every Company to attack at once!" Ritsuko shouted, snapping every celebrating employee back to their feet. "The JSSDF is to open fire at will. Use everything. We must kill the Angel right now."

"Ritzy, what's wrong?" Misato asked her friend. "We've driven the Angel back. Even if we don't finish it here, we'll have a fully thawed Unit-00 by the time it returns. There's no need to be recklessly wasteful with our reserves right now."

"Misato, we haven't driven the Angel back. We've just distracted it for a bit." Shinji spoke, his hand pointed towards the topological map.

Misato followed his finger, and she too froze.

"Makoto," said the Captain, "deploy Eva-00 as close to the Angel as possible, even if Rei has to take a couple hits. We must neutralize as much A.T. Field as we can, and make every shot from the bombardment count. Everyone else, we're still on battle stations. Situation critical. We must stop the Angel now before it gets any further away."

"Yes, Captain," the command center replied. Everyone, too, has realized the implications. It didn't take a lot of abstract thinking to realize what the Angel was doing. After all, even an animal would've done it.

What happens when an animal is placed in a cage, given a toy, a puzzle that it must solve, and a piece of meat as motivation? The animal will keep at the puzzle until it gives up or finally succeeds. But what if it was whipped every time it failed? Pretty soon, the animal will ignore the food, the toy, and the puzzle; preferring instead to defend itself and go after the hand that whips it.

In this case, there was no cage to stop the Angel from leaving – rather it was the toy that was tied to a leash. The Angel was nigh-invulnerable while its A.T. Field was up; and there was a lot of meat lying around.

* * *

2nd lieutenant Mana Kirishima was attached to company Tango of the JSSDF rapid-response airborne regiment. Formerly, she was part of a special R&D operations squadron, but was on loan to Tango ever since her original development team ran into some dead-ends. There's no reason a pilot as skilled as herself should sit around home-base doing nothing. Well, not literally nothing; she could be participating in training and some such, but she'd rather be somewhere where her abilities could actually contribute.

That's why she was here, right now, in Hakone with the rest of the abruptly mobilized fast-response team. She was glad they allowed her to fight. VTOLs were complicated and, while anybody could fly one, not everyone could fly one well.

"Mana, the Angel is doing something," her radio set blared. "Be careful!"

"Roger that, Keita. I'm staying away from the bombardment zone." Mana watched as the Angel changed its heading, and began leaving the edge of Tokyo-3 area proper. "That's odd. What's going on?"

"…*crackle*… this is HQ. All company is to engage the enemy together at 44 seconds past the minute. Upon engagement, you may fire at will."

"Yes sir!" Mana shouted into her headset. She flicked a couple switch and tilted her flight stick. The YAGR-3B Close Air Support VTOL aircraft slowly accelerated towards the purple monster. Around her, several other aircrafts are doing the same, and Mana can see the heavy armor squadron mobilizing through the thickets. It looked like they're moving in for the kill.

As the whir of her Jet-turbine kicked into gear, Mana began circling the enemy target. Flicking off the safety switch, she places her finger on the missile launching mechanism. 44-seconds past the minute, was it? That's in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

The instant Mana pulled her trigger, a robotic figure shot up out of the ground less than 200 meters from the enemy. A fiery storm of shells, missiles, bullets and rockets slammed into the Angel. The sound was deafening, and the monster erupted in explosion under bombardment from Japan's very best. Seemingly endless, the rain of destruction fell upon the creature; tearing, burning, crushing its every defense. Mana unloaded everything her VTOL had to offer, knowing that this was the last chance she will have to engage this enemy. She'll need to re-arm anyways, even if the monster survived.

The smokes cleared, and there stood the monster in shambles. Its carapace torn. Its ribs broken. Its left tentacle vanished. It needed just one more push before it died.

"This is Mana of company Tango. I need to rearm. Reroute me to the nearest supply stati-"

"…This is JSSDF HQ, all company is to retreat immediately. I repeat, all company is to retreat to safety immediately. Disengage and get as far from the enemy as possible."

Mana didn't need to be told twice. Whatever it was HQ was trying, it didn't work. She was going to get the hell out of there and-

There was a flash of light.

Mana looked outside, and saw that her left turbo engine was missing. Around her, small sparks of flame erupted where other VTOLs formerly floated; the glowing purple tentacle had mercifully spared her where it otherwise was less discreet.

Or maybe not. Mana noticed a sudden empty, hollow lurch in her belly; her brain slowly realizing that, with no turbo, she had a date with the universal gravitational law as proposed by Sir Isaac Newton. _Newton's law is only an approximation_, whispered an extremely tactless part of her brain. Other, more reasonable parts, however, was rapidly kicking into gear as she tried everything she knew from pilot school. No response. No power. No bowel control. No eject button. Each subroutine in her brain tried and failed. Tried and failed. Tried and failed again.

Despite all that, however, one part of Mana's brain was completely successful at its job. This was the part that controlled her mouth, her tongue, and her vocal cords. The command was straight forward, and she would actually need to be severely injured before it failed. The command simply said:

"Mayday! Mayday! MAYDAY!"

* * *

Ritsuko watched in horror as the demon-like Angel passed over the mountain range surrounding Tokyo-3. Like a pale rider, the monster left nothing in its wake. The reports coming through the operator were less than delightful right now, and since the JSSDF soldiers had begun broadcasting over unsecure channels, they were picking up some of that as well.

"Victor Company has been wiped out. Oh god. Oh god! *crack* *buzz*"

"…*crackle*… This is Zulu Company. Please send assistance at once! Commander Hideki got caught in the fire. He's ble-"

"…*crack*… 2nd lieutena… Kirishima… crash… broken legs… somebody…"

"… Hehe… pay… haha… wahaha… HAHAHAHA-*boom* *buzz*"

"…tsuko…Ritsuko! Chief Ritsuko!"

Ritsuko snapped back to reality. Maya was asking her what they were going to do next. "I… ah…" Ritsuko stammered. She didn't know.

Why did the plan fail? How could it fail? It was all going so well! How did she miss such an obvious weak-spot? Was it because she thought it up last night after 48-hours of no sleep and 15 cups of coffee? Was it because it was never supposed to be used? That it existed solely as a string-along countermeasure in case something happened in the 1-day interval before the proper activation of Unit-00? Why didn't she think of a way to protect the JSSDF force they were entrusted with? Why did she miss such an obvious constrain? Why-

"Maya, damage report!" a male voice resounded, and Ritsuko turned to see Shinji stepping forward to command. "Makoto, check on Rei! Shigeru, get in touch with the UN Security Council. Ask them if they have anything else at their disposal."

"Company Alpha through November, Victor and Zulu has been wiped out." Maya relayed. "Oscar through Sierra is routed. No word on Tango or Whisky, and Yankee Company are slowly retreating."

"Rei is safely in the cage. Unit-00 suffered slight damage, but no major malfunctions are reported." Makoto didn't need to mention the obvious.

"No response from the UN." Shigeru said. "Their local representative was Captain Hideki – he was attached to Zulu company. I'm afraid he might have been KIA in the confusion."

Shinji shuddered, his nerves were beginning to show. Yet the boy held firm, and after several seconds of silent pondering, he spoke to the operators again.

"Shigeru, contact the JSSDF. Tell them they're to prepare for us the most powerful N2 bomb in their arsenal; tell them Ikari demanded it."

"Shinji!" Misato turned around, shouting. "What are you doing? We know the N2 does nothing to the Angel. Why are you using your father's name?"

"The N2 will work if we can drop the A.T. Field."

"But only the Eva can neutralize that Angel's A.T. Field."

"And we DO have a working Eva!"

"Which can't walk or move outside the city."

"Then we'll wait for the Angel to resume its attack back into the city.

"But Rei can't get out of the Eva. She'll be caught in the blast!"

"THEN SO BE IT!"

Misato gasped. Ritsuko stared at him; eyes filled with terror and dread.

"Shinji…" his guardian spoke. "What are you…?"

"Hehe," the boy chuckled, "Misato, I thought you were joking as well when you mentioned using Unit-00 as bait and then bombing Tokyo. It's not very funny right now."

"No it's not, Shinji." Misato replied. Her voice, however, was beginning to shake with apprehension. "So you better knock it out. We're going to gather our thoughts, carefully plan, and come up with a solution. Right?"

Misato looked from Shinji to the 3 operators, to Ritsuko, then back to the boy again. "Right?"

"What else are we going to do, Misato?" The boy's sight on her was hard and unyielding. "What else are we going to do, now that all our conventional weaponries are gone?"

"We'll get more! We'll ask the JSSDF to send more from their battalion!"

"And what's to stop them from getting wiped out again?"

"At least it'll buy us time! We can thaw Unit-00 and then Rei can engage the Angel in a straight up fight!"

"Can you buy enough time until tomorrow? Can you get that many soldiers to feed the Angel as sacrifice?"

"We can finish off the Angel in one final barrage! We can attack it again with more fire-power and finish what we started!"

"And how much of what we started is left?! Have you looked at the Angel in the last 2-minutes? Over the past hours it regenerated the majority of its carapace, and restored its damaged arm! By the time our forces can reassemble, the Angel might as well be starting off fresh!"

"But Shinji, an N2 bomb will-"

"An N2 bomb will be powerful enough to obliterate the Angel as long as it doesn't have an A.T. Field. You know it can, Misato. You saw how much damage it takes once the damn field is down!"

"Shinji! There are at least a hundred thousand people in Tokyo! There's no way they can all evacuate in time!"

"Then they _don't_ have enough time! If we wait much longer, even this plan might fail as well. The Angel must be defeated, or all of humanity - not just the hundred thousand here - is also doomed!"

The command deck was silent.

In the middle of the deck stood Shinji. Staring straight ahead. Squeezing out each words was like pulling teeth from his mouth.

"If we lose Tokyo-3, then we'll build Tokyo-4. If we lose Unit-00, then we'll turn to Unit-01. If we let the Angel make it down into the Geofront though, we lose our chance of saving Unit-01 from the explosion - and we all die too."

Misato slowly approached the boy. "What about Rei?" the Captain asked.

"Rei knew there was a risk of danger in this operation." Shinji choked back a tear "And I…we…we don't have time to hesitate. If Rei dies, then I swear on my mother's grave that I'll pilot the Eva myself!"

Misato stopped in her tracks. Shinji turned towards the three operators. "What are you waiting for?" shouted the boy. "Order the N2! Are you waiting for the Angel to fully regenerate? Are you feeling too honorable to kick your enemy while he's down?"

The three operators stared at Shinji. They dare not - could not - take any action; especially since it was told to them by an unranked, unaccountable teenage boy. N2-ing Tokyo-3 was something most people would hang themselves for, even if they did it under orders. Right now, however, they didn't even have that line of retreat to stave off the guilt in their consciences.

The earth stood stationary as it waited for someone to take action.

Ritsuko walked up to Shinji, and touched him on the shoulder. After a moment, she turned around.

"Shinji is right," the Chief of Project E declared. " And I am still in command of this operation. Enact scenario D-17 immediately! Evacuate as many civilians out of Tokyo-3 as we can! Contact the JSSDF – the N2 emergency code is 'Iliad, Three Kingdoms, Ramayana'."

The world slowly started turning again.

Shinji held onto Ritsuko – grabbing her by the hand. "Thank you, Ritsuko," the boy said. "Could you walk me over to that wall? I think my knees are about to give."

Shinji was led to the wall behind the 3 operators, who began to patch through to their respective destination. He leaned his weigh on the firm, reassuring metallic surface, before glancing at the woman at his side.

"Ritsuko, thank you," the boy said, "I truly appreciate what you did. You spoke up even though you knew it'll be your head on the chopping block."

"It's something no one else could've done," Ritsuko smiled. She also turned and placed her weight against the wall. "Besides, it was you who suggested the plan in the first place. That was a very brave thing to do, Shinji. I think I see a bit of your father in you after all."

Shinji would've chuckled, if it wasn't taking every fiber of will in his body to stop himself from collapsing.

"Stupid…" the boy said. "Don't make me laugh. Damn father. Making your 14 year old son do this."

* * *

Misato couldn't stand to look at the boy. Despite everything he said, despite what needed to be done, she wasn't ready to drop a bomb on her city – sacrificing an Eva, a pilot and possibly a hundred thousand lives in the process. It wasn't surprising. Any introspective human who truly understood the consequences of their action would be in the same position as her. Despite the silence on the command deck, the rest of the command center was still abuzzed with chatter – a myriad of casualty report and emergency radio prattle streamed steadily in.

"… -paramedic team Gamma, requesting priority evac-"

"… -going into shock! Lieutenant Kirishima! Somebody, get me a-"

"… team Sierra. I'm the only one left. Somebody, pleas-"

How did it become like this? Would she have to live with this decision? How did it go so wrong?

"… Oh god. He's dead, Jim! The UN liason is dea-"

"… JSSDF command post! Please respond! JSSD-"

What could she do? Was there anything different she could have done? How did it go so wrong, that they ended up here?

"… you hear me? Can you hear me?! Mana!-"

"… UN Carrier. Over the Rainbow. Heavy cargo has-"

"… Help us! We're trapped underneath the ledge of-"

Huh? Wait. Hold on a second.

Was that…?

No. No, no, no. NO!

No way it's here right now. No way they got here so fast. No way that phone call worked.

Misato ran up to the comm terminal, and snatched up the microphone.

"Makoto, isolate that radio signal!" Misato told her operator. "UN Carrier, identify yourself and your cargo at once!" The Captain was yelling into her handset, barely able to contain her excitement.

"This is the flagship Carrier of the UN pacific fleet, 'Over the Rainbow'." The gruffly voice of a man resounded through the hollows of the command center. "We've arrived in Suruga bay with some heavy cargo. Requesting a priority line to the commanding officer of NERV."

"The commanding officer is talking right now," Misato responded. "To whom am I speaking? Identify yourself!"

"That's cold, Misato. Have you already forgotten the sound of my voice?"

* * *

Shinji was slumped on the floor. He was slowly replaying the consequences of his actions in his head. Shinji needed to fully comprehend what he just did - he owed them that much. Hearing approaching footsteps, Shinji looked up just in time to see Misato approaching him.

"Is it done?" The boy asked. "Is the Angel destroyed?"

"Nope," the Captain responded, bubbly with delight. "I've call off the bomb. We won't need it anymore."

"What have you done?!" Shinji shouted. He instantly leapt to his feet, felt a shot of queasiness in his head, then leaned back against the wall again for support. "What have you done, Misato? We must defeat the Angel…"

"That's what I did, Shinji. The Angel is defeated, though it is not destroyed yet. That should happen any moment now."

"How? How are you going to defeat the Angel? What do you know, Misato? What have you done?"

"I called in an old favor, so we should be alright now. The situation is completely under control."

* * *

Above ground, the sun was setting on Tokyo-3; the last ray of red shone over the crest of the western hills. A large monstrous abomination floated above the quiet face of the city. The Angel has arrived at the Geofront's zenith, and was preparing to begin its burrowing operation.

Suddenly, the sun was blotted out, and the colossal enemy of mankind turned its gaze to the west.

There it beheld a tall, crimson giant eclipsing the last bead of sunlight.

"Sheesh," said the pilot of Eva Unit-02. "My debut and the enemy is a busted up wreck already. Stupid Angel. I can't even make my entrance right. Oh well, you're going to pay for failing to receive me properly. Here I come!"

* * *

_That's chapter 5! The author hopes you're enjoying the story so far. We're about ~20k words in, so let him have a piece of your mind! Like what you're seeing? Confused? Reviews make authors happy._

_Tune in next time to see what our new character might be up to!_


	6. Worst part about dealing with the devil

NERV's Department of Security Intelligences (DSI) is the espionage, counter-intelligence, and special information security subsection within NERV. Colloquially referred to as "Section Two" by employees privy to their operation, the Department of Security Intelligence specializes in weaponizing information; whether it be the public, partial, misleading or completely fabricated variety. The DSI has deep influence in various other NERV offices, such as the PR department, Accounting, Special Inspections, Communications and even Retrieval/Acquisition. The department is overseen by the Chief of Information Security, and reports directly to the Senior Commander himself. To a limited degree, DSI also provides personal security detail for high priority individual including, but not limited to, high ranked NERV officials and the pilots/potential pilots of the Evangelion program.

_- Classified Information File#0000012-C, item 02. "DSI: Section Two"; Security clearance level 3: Classified Information_

* * *

Misato has been waiting just outside the front entrance of NERV for almost 15-minutes now. This past quarter hour, she observed NERV personnel of every nature pass through the gates. Some coming in for the night-shift, others leaving after a hard day's work. Having only been here less than three weeks herself, however, Misato still didn't know most of her new colleague. That being the case, hardly anybody bothered her as they swipe through the automatic turnstile – leaving Misato to herself with no other company apart from her erratic mind.

What sodding company indeed.

Right now, her brain was throwing a hissy fit like an impudent child; rolling on the floor and refusing to do any sort of coherent reasoning or rationalization. _No_, the brain said, _I refuse to do this. I refuse compute anything that has to do with that man. I do not have guy problems. I do not have any misplaced anxiety or apprehension. I am perfectly in control and oh look here he comes right now oh god oh god ohgodohgodohgod!_

Down the long escalator came a tall, dark, charming and mysterious looking man. Here came a lawless looking rogue who, in his younger days, would probably fit right in with a free-spirited band of wandering marauders. Here came a man who probably lived life in the danger zone – walking in the gaps between the lawful and the reckless. A philosopher. A lover. A desperado and a vagabond.

Of course, Misato's brain only mulled over these labels for a brief instant before it came, inevitably, to the most descriptive tag of them all: an ex-boyfriend.

Down the long escalator came Kaji Ryoji, and Misato was _not_ in control.

"Hello, sweetie," Kaji said, finally noticing the reception detail waiting for him. "Sorry for the wait; I came as quickly as I could."

"You…you…" Misato stammered. Feeling her face heat up, she quickly broke eye-contact with a bow. "Your assistance is deeply appreciated, and NERV extends its most profound gratitude for your recent actions." _Please make it end please get me out of here please right now!_

"Now, now," Kaji smiled. He slowly approached the woman; dragging a shiny duralumin case behind him. "That's no way to receive a colleague who just travelled half-way across the world. I've been on a battleship for the past 2-weeks, you know? They were pulling out all stops and we literally skipped every single port along the way. As someone who just broke a world record at your behest, I expected a warmer welcome."

"I… ah…" Misato glanced up at the man, and instantly leapt 3 paces backwards when she saw that Kaji's hand was two inches from touching her head. Collecting herself, Misato started again. "I am most impressed, actually. Wilhelmshaven is more than 11,000-nautical miles away. Even going at maximum speed, I would've expected the 'Over the Rainbow' to get here tomorrow at the earliest."

"Funny that you should ask." Kaji paused, taking a moment to ponder. "As soon as I got your call, I checked up on Asuka and the transport. Imagine my surprise when I found an exhaustive plan detailing exact procedures for moving an Eva long distance overseas. What's funnier was that an Algol-class FSS freighter had just unloaded its cargo in Wilhelmshaven that evening – after an 18-hour delay. I thought you must've worked your NERV voodoo and arranged that for me."

The Captain's brain called for a pause. _That's odd_, it thought, _we didn't do anything like that_.

"…Well, you should be grateful that you're so lucky," Misato finally said. "It wasn't I who arranged it or anything. I don't have that kind of power, so don't get the wrong idea; it must've been a coincidence like that."

Kaji smile. "Worked out in your favor, didn't it?" the man said.

_Oh goddammit,_ Misato's brain thought, _he thinks we're being coy_.

"Anyways," Misato continued, eager to change the subject. "What are you actually doing in town? I asked for you to arrange transport for Unit-02, but I didn't actually expect you to turn up yourself. I'm sure all the woman at NERV-03 are missing their Casanova. Are you here to snoop around my base on Section Two's business?"

"Hey! Ease off the inquisition!" Kaji defended. "For your information, I'm transferring here as the new Chief of Communications in PR –"

Misato twitch.

"-and I figured I'd come the long way so I can keep an eye on Asuka and the Eva. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm a really tired man. I still have a bunch of transfer paper to sign before I sleep tonight" Kaji started towards the turnstile before holding out his hand. "Key please?"

Misato handed over a plastic ID card she had secured earlier. "There's a bunch of relaxation vault in block 6," the Captain said. "Feel free to stay there as long as you want."

Kaji passed through the turnstile before turning around. "Actually, I had planned on going back to my old abode tonight. I'm finally in Tokyo again, and I miss the memories." The man began to gaze upwards wistfully before snapping out of it. "It's a long way to walk though, so why don't you give me a lift?" Kaji lifted an eyebrow. "I wanted to ride the Renault Alpine again, for old time sake-"

"You shut up and keep walking!" Misato yelled at the man. She would've slapped him too had he been in range, but Kaji had wisely moved away from the turnstile railing. She was still fuming as the man vanished into the depths of NERV HQ with a wave.

Cheeky man. She couldn't give him a ride today anyways; her car was a mess – and it'll take at least a couple days to clean up if she had to impress a guy.

* * *

Kaede Agano, Satsuki Ooi and Aoi Mogami was sharing a table in the cafeteria. The three MAGI technicians often dined together to trade gossip, and today was no different. The present topic, however, was slightly more macabre than usual. They didn't miss what their colleague – Shigeru, Makoto and Maya – had to go through earlier. It was the talk of the town right now. Observing the 3 main operators dining in quiet contemplation from afar, the 3 tech girls pondered the implications.

"Well, what would you have done?" Satsuki asked her 2 friends. "What the commander's son ordered wasn't something you could do lightly."

"What else would I have done?" Aoi responded. "I would've gone through with the order. It doesn't really matter who made it – given the situation, it was the best action at our disposal."

"How could you say that?" Kaede countered. "How could you be so heartless as to sacrifice a hundred thousand people? The First Children would've died too! Look how everything ended up, though; Eva Unit-02 saved the day anyways!"

"I agree," Satsuki chimed in. "But there's one important thing worth mentioning: nobody knew Unit-02 would be there – not even Misato and she made the phone call herself. Unit-02 was truly a fortunate turn of event – a Deus-ex machina of the rarest kind. We can't plan our actions around miracles like that."

"Aww, Satsuki," Kaede pouted. "You're a big meanie: always saying you agree but then shooting my opinion straight down-"

Kaede's two friends sniggered

"-but that doesn't change my point. If you'd carry out the order, you would've slammed the window on any butterfly of hope. Besides, even though Shinji is the commander's son, he doesn't really have any real power in NERV. The boy was going above his authority when he demanded to use the commander's name."

"What he said was 'Tell them Ikari demanded it'," Aoi retorted. "Shinji's last name is Ikari too, so it technically wasn't a lie. But that's missing the point. Whether he'd used his father's name or not, Shinji's order really was the best thing we could've done – Dr. Akagi up and commanded it herself afterwards and even if she wasn't there, Captain Katsuragi would've said the same thing eventually. In the end, it's the same destination. You've just wasted more time – needlessly increasing the risk of the Angel breaking through and reducing the heads-up any civilians will have for their evacuation. It's hard to imagine it not happening in retrospect, but if we say the chance of a miracle – like Unit-02 appearing – is miniscule, would you risk the entire operation on your commander's hesitation? Are you here to complete the mission, or follow orders?"

"Aoi's right," Satsuki said. "But what if our commander had some information we didn't? What if Misato had known for sure that Unit-02 was going to turn up in time, but was just hiding that fact to see if we and the JSSDF could actually mount an assault on the Angel? In any case, if the order was carried through, the N2 would've killed a hundred thousand people. That call is way above our pay grade. The commanders are in command because they're trusted to make the best decision in a situation like that. There's a reason you don't have as much information or authority as them."

"Satsuki, you're doing it again!" Kaede spoke; she and Aoi couldn't help cracking out a cheesy smile at their friend's expense.

"But her points are very valid," Aoi finally spoke. "Take it another way then: what if our commander had told us to do nothing? What if we were told to just wait for a miracle, and no further explanation was given? Could you truly, with a clean conscience, wait it out even though the whole world could burn for your decision? Inaction is a decision too! It's like I said earlier: do your loyalties lie first with NERV or with humanity?"

"That's a false dichotomy if I ever saw one!" Kaede riposte; as a computer techie, she's had ample training on spotting logical fallacies. "There's no reason those two options have to be exclusive. NERV was founded with a mission of saving humanity. Could we agree on good faith that our organization is really looking out for the best for us?"

"Well, I don't know about that…" Satsuki scowled. "Those guys in Section Two gives me the creeps. No honest organization needs shady men like them around. I will concede on a different point though, and that's how I never want to be in the hot seat like the main operator guys."

And with that, the three technician nodded in agreement. Left unsaid was the mutual comprehension that, no matter what the three main operators had to go through, the person bearing the blunt of the obligation was Shinji – who came up with the decision – and Dr. Akagi – whose neck was on the line.

* * *

Dr. Akagi Ritsuko was furious. Sometimes, she wondered if there's still a human heart beating behind all the scheming Gendo Ikari did. "What do you mean Rei was disposable? Do you listen to yourself when you say things like that?"

Ritsuko was in Gendo's office, where a secure line connected her to the Senior Commander somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean. She'd received a note that she should use this room to contact the Commander, and she was to bring Rei along.

That's why Rei was beside her right now. The girl had heard everything that was said.

"Don't make me repeat myself, Ritsuko. You know she's easily replaced. If we lose Unit-00, we can pressure the other NERV branches to finish up the production models faster." Gendo's response was as emotionless as ever. "I've already selected the fourth children, so we won't be short on pilot for much longer. We just need to wait until the new Eva comes in."

"What about the entire population of Tokyo? Are you just going to replace them all too?" Ritsuko continued. "All one hundred thousand of them?"

"Nonsense, Ritsuko. You know that can't be done," Gendo dismisses her question in a way only he could do.

"So what if Unit-02 didn't turn up? What if we really needed to N2 Tokyo? Your son would have the blood of a hundred thousand on his hands! I would have the same blood on mine!"

"Counterfactuals, Ritsuko. It is pointless to consider what would happen in a counterfactual scenario. It is impossible to turn back time, so history has played out the only way it possibly could. The fact remains that we didn't need to drop an N2 bomb, that the Angel was convincingly defeated, and that neither Rei, the citizens of Tokyo, nor the rest of humanity was lost today."

"Well, if you're so confident that Unit-02 was coming to save the day, what about the lives of the JSSDF soldiers?" Ritsuko accused her heartless Commander. "Why did they have to be there? Are you saying they lost their lives in vain? Do their sacrifice mean nothing to you?"

"On the contrary, Ritsuko, the JSSDF had to be there – and we gained an invaluable piece of information from their deaths."

Ritsuko was shocked speechless. Finally, she managed to squeeze out a response. "The Ikari theorem?"

"Precisely, Ritsuko. I'm sure even you can see how valuable this information is. Their loss today have taught them an unforgettable lesson: they can't pull their punches when it comes to the Angel. In every single encounter from this day forward, the JSSDF will be fielding the maximum possible number of personnel they have in reserve. We shall be able to strike down every subsequent Angel with more decisiveness than ever. And have you already forgotten that Operation Wakamoru was your idea?"

"You… you monster." Ritsuko stammered.

"Actually, I believe NERV should be responsible for the lives lost in our operation. Please ask the JSSDF to promote every single soldier who died today by three ranks, and inform them that NERV will carry the full amount of the deceased's survivor's benefit. I'm sure SELEE won't be breaking any bank to pay the measly price for a highly regarded and optimistic public opinion of NERV. The JSSDF soldiers died as heroes, Ritsuko. They died as part of an effort to save the entire human civilization! Do you still believe me a monster?"

Ritsuko was beginning to get sick. She didn't want to carry this conversation any further.

"Is there a reason that we needed to talk today?" The Chief Science Officer inquired. "I have Rei here with me. Was there any particular reason you sent for her."

"Yes, of course. Rei, you activated Unit-00 today, yes? Of that event, please tell me what you recall."

Ritsuko quickly glanced over at Rei, wondering why such an information could possibly interest Gendo. As Rei retold the story of the activation sequence, Ritsuko had an uncomfortable suspicion that Gendo was _not_ asking just for the sake of reliving the experience himself.

"Thank you, Rei," Gendo finally spoke once girl finished her story. "That's exactly what I had hoped to hear. Ritsuko, thank you as well. There is no doubt in my mind now that your proposal can work. Please continue modeling Rei's psychological profile; I am confident she that is the key to your system. Carry on as usual: I shall be back in Tokyo within a week, but for now you're the only one on base that I can unconditionally trust."

_Pfft_, thought Ritsuko_, yeah right._

"Oh, and one last thing. Would you kindly pass along a message to Shinji?"

"What is it?"

"Please tell him that he did an excellent job today, and that he has shown himself truly to be my son. When I get back, I shall give him a pet bunny or three."

Ritsuko slammed down the phone. The speaker line disconnected, and in that dark room there was silence.

"Let's go home, Rei," Ritsuko spoke to the girl next to her. "I've forgotten the last time I slept, and I must be going into psychosis: I thought I was talking to the devil himself just now."

The blue girl nodded, and they began to leave the room. In her head, Ritsuko wondered when it was she bartered off her soul. The worst part about dealing with the devil was that, after keeping his company for long enough, bits and pieces of what he said began to make sense.

_I wonder_, Ritsuko thought, _which is the greater evil for mankind: the Angels here to kill them or the devil trying to save them?_

* * *

Somewhere in the South Pacific, on board a military ship, Gendo Ikari hung up the phone. Next to him stood Fuyutsuki Kozo, a man not unfamiliar with his superior's cunning ruthlessness.

"I must question the necessity," Fuyutsuki started, "of sacrificing the entirety of the JSSDF's fast-response team just to prove a conjecture. One or two company would be indicative enough."

"I'm surprised to hear that from you," Gendo replied. "The entire farce with the JSSDF was a tragedy, true, but I wasn't there and I didn't call for it. Even if I was, however, I can only look forward and optimize the cards I've personally been dealt."

"And what cards have we been dealt, exactly?" Fuyutsuki pressed further.

"Why the tragedy of the JSSDF's fast-response team, of course." Gendo continued. "It was the perfect opportunity to showboat. Now the world knows that even with modern weaponry, humanity is helpless without the Evangelion. I expect the construction of the production model, and the development of a mass-production type, to accelerate to an unprecedented rate now. I understand basic math, Fuyutsuki – you know I do. I'd gladly sacrifice a hundred soldiers today so that, when another fight begins tomorrow, we can save one thousand! I'd gladly sacrifice the hundred thousand citizens of Tokyo to save the 3-billion members of humanity!"

Fuyutsuki eyed Gendo with trepidation. "The ends doesn't justify the means, Gendo; you'd best remember that. There are examples abound."

"If the end doesn't justify the means, then what does?" Gendo retorted with a question. "Don't get me wrong, though, I had no intentions of actually bombing Tokyo-3 in the first place. Having Unit-02 come to save the day was the perfect scenario: that's why I planned it."

"How did you know that the Eva would turn up on time?"

"Why, the dead-sea scroll, of course. Even the old men knew about it. The scroll can be used to determine when the Angels will turn up, and you and I both know that Unit-02 had completed production on time."

"What if Misato didn't call Kaji?" Fuyutsuki asked. "Would you have called him yourself?"

"Precisely. Kaji is, in fact, a trusted agent of mine. He was to courier an important parcel for me from NERV-Germany. I needed to arrange for his transport anyways. The fact that we could use Unit-02's story as a cover was just butter. Now that he's here, I've promoted him to Chief of Information Security. He's hiding under the guise of a titled officer in PR, and shall continue to conduct espionage for us in the background."

"Isn't it cutting a little close though, giving him exactly 14-days to get from Wilhelmshaven to Suruga Bay?"

"Nonsense, Fuyutsuki. We both know that the flooding from Second-Impact has raised sea level by a great deal. The trip could've easily taken 13-days, if they were willing to cut corners. In fact, it's precisely because of Second-Impact that we're out here right now."

Fuyutsuki looked outside one of the small windows of the Arleigh-Burke Class destroyer, observing the red sea water and the alien stalagmites rising from the ocean floor.

"Yes," the Second Commander commented. "This is truly the new Dead Sea. Nothing is alive out here."

"Yet here we are, Fuyutsuki," Gendo spoke. "Yet here are we, floating in a tin can, far from the human world. By the power of science, indeed, we are alive."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Fuyutsuki mused. "I hope our science hasn't, in fact, doomed us all."

Outside the metallic ship, far above the sea, the eerie Aurora Australis lights up the sky; result of the peculiar atmospheric composition from the Second-Impact. Underneath the strangely colored light, a convoy of ships operated by NERV's Section Two's retrieval and acquisition squadron floated gently in a blood red ocean.

* * *

It was fifteen minutes past ten, and Asuka Langley Soryu – the Second Children and pilot of Evangelion-02 – was getting impatient. _Where is that man_, the girl pondered,_ he should have been here a quarter-of-an-hour ago_.

The door to NERV's underground parking terminal opens, and in steps her mentor and care-taker.

"Kaji!" Asuka shouted, running up to the gruffly man. "Kaji! Did you see me out there today? Did you see how Unit-02 and I completely dismantled the Angel? How was that?!"

"It was marvelous, Asuka," Kaji replied – patting her on the head with adoration. "It was just the thing for my little princess."

"I know, right?" Asuka continued. "We saved the day, Kaji! Eva-02 and I raced into battle like a crimson knight, completely out of their left field! They had no idea to expect us! That was fabulous how you told the NERV commander she had forgotten your voice!"

Asuka did a small spin and reenacted Eva-02's entrance scene, before abruptly pausing and turning around. "Who was that commander anyways? It sounded like you knew her?"

"Just a colleague and an old friend from college," Kaji answered – moving towards the wall-panel and inputting a sequence of code. "I don't think she likes me much anymore, though. You'll get a chance to meet her yourself one of these days."

As Kaji pressed enter, a whirring mechanical sound started as somewhere – deep underground – robotic arms began to search for a car in long term storage. It won't take long before they locate their target and return back to the 2 waiting customer.

"Where are we going?" Asuka asked. It goes without saying that she had no idea where anything in Tokyo-3 was.

"We're going to my old flat; I used to live in this city after all." Kaji steps forward just as his car was delivered.

"Nice car," remarked Asuka. "It's not very big, though."

"Thank you, and don't you judge a book by its cover," Kaji said as he open the door for his little princess. "This is a Lotus Elan S1, one of the originals. It's powerful, elegant, and has a racing background that packs a punch where it counts. A reliable car that's guaranteed to impress on any road."

"Wow," Asuka was clearly impressed. "Can I drive it?"

"Maybe when you're older."

* * *

The ride out to Kaji's old quarters took them through the mountainous road on the outskirts of Tokyo-3. Asuka gazed wistfully at the glowing moon and the cityscape, reflected brilliantly on the mirror surface of Lake Ashino. The late summer wind blew through her hair, and Asuka breathed deeply as she took in the scenery.

"Look at the city," Asuka said, glancing back at her driver. "Look Kaji, that's the city we saved today."

"And we'll keep saving it," Kaji respond. "We'll keep saving it as long as we need to."

"What are you going to do?" Asuka inquired. "Will you be staying in Tokyo? Will you be going back to Germany?"

"I've accepted a job here as Communications director in the PR department," Kaji replied. "You should know how important human communication is, too. If you've learned nothing else these past years under my tutelage, I hope that you learned at least this much."

"Of course!" Asuka replied. "That's why I did my degree in game-theory! I know all about optimal strategy and games of incomplete information. The human condition is really nothing except us trying to create the best possible situation given these limits."

"Indeed, how unfortunate that that's the case," Kaji mused. "There will always be incomplete information between two humans. It's like we're all separated by a great unfordable river, seeing each other wave and signal; hopelessly trying to interpret what we really mean."

The road banked into a sharp turn, and Kaji depressed the accelerator just precisely to glide through the curve.

"There's so much we don't know, so much we don't understand, so much we can only imagine what others are thinking," the man continued. "That's why it's best to – sometimes – just let what's to come, come. Just accept that you can't always control the things around you. Sometimes you're not an island in the river, but a pebble, and you just have to let the uncontrollable tides take you where it will."

"That's not true though," Asuka countered. "There's always something you can control – there's always a strategy even in games of incomplete information. You can always choose how you appear to others, and you can always choose to try your hardest. That's why, if you try your very best, you can still get a decent payoff, and others will eventually come to see things from your side!"

The girl smiled, before looking back towards the inky black lake and the silver orb floating within. "Look at me! I'm 14 and I just saved a hundred thousand lives today. I'm a prodigy Evangelion pilot, and I have a university degree while other kids my age are worried about the latest fad on television."

Kaji listened to her words, and a nostalgic memory briefly clouded his face. "I wonder if you'll still believe that," the man murmured, "when you've gotten a little older."

The pair rode in silence for a while longer; the summer sky shining with stars – though some are drowned out by the city lights, others still twinkle with their silent beauty.

"So Kaji," Asuka finally broke the silence. "What's going to happen to me after today? Am I just going to wait around HQ all day until another disaster occurs? Am I going to live alone?"

"I'm glad you asked, Asuka," the man replied. "For now, you'll continue to stay with me. It's the easiest solution right now – since I've been taking care of you back in Germany as well-"

Asuka positively lit up in the dark.

"-And as for what you'll do all day, well I suppose you can go to school."

"Huh?" Asuka jerked. "School? Why do I have to go to school?"

"Come now, Asuka, every kid your age in Japan goes to school. Think of all the friends you'll make!"

"But Kaji, I have a university degree! I've got nothing in common with the kids in school!"

"Now now! I'm sure you'll like it if you give it a try. I've submitted your transcripts and your transfer papers already-"

"Kaji!"

"-and besides, going to class won't be the only thing you do. You'll actually be helping me with my job a great deal!"

"Huh?"

"Wait till we get home and I'll show you the brochures. You'll see!"

* * *

Shinji Ikari was sitting at his desk in school, looking down under the weather and feeling every bit like he appears. He could hardly sleep last night, despite the fact that – for the first time – he had gone to Ritsuko's house, gotten his own room, and spent the night on a positively luxurious bed compared to the relaxation vault.

His wandering mind stole the ease of sleep from him, and whenever he lost consciousness, the dreams would snap him awake almost instantly. His action the past day loomed heavily, and although – unbeknownst to him – several other employees of NERV had conversed the previous evening on the very same topics, Shinji didn't have anybody to confide in. Ritsuko passed out almost immediately after showing the two children in, and Rei soon vanished into her own room after wishing him goodnight. That didn't matter though. This internal impasse was something within him, and he needed to sort it out himself.

Shinji feared that he lost a part of himself during their last fight.

Sure, they didn't end up going through with it. Sure Unit-02 turned up just in time and Misato called off the carnage. Sure, Rei had been saved and seemed as healthy as ever today. It didn't matter.

Shinji was ready to do it. Shinji was prepared. Shinji had demanded that they summon the bomb. Had demanded that they sacrifice the girl. Had demanded that he take the first step down to hell.

Wasn't that, itself, the first step? Wasn't preparing yourself to step in – firm with 100% resolve – the same as having taken the step already?

Shinji feared that he was becoming evil. Was this the cost of trying to take over NERV command? Why was he so intent on it anyways? They're apparently nowhere near as incompetent as he thought, and Ritsuko has proven that, if no one else, she knows what she's doing. Operation Wakamoru, disastrous as it may be, could not have been conjured up by a fool. its failure highlighting what potentially could have been – given more time and polish. Perhaps Shinji should call it off while he can. Perhaps he should forget about taking over NERV and go back to obediently piloting Eva?

A sharp prod poked into his shoulder. Shinji ignored it, hoping that it'll go away. The poking continued, now accompanied by the sound of his name.

_Dammit_, Shinji's brain quipped,_ never thought personal space would be a vanishing commodity for a NERV public liaison. Honestly, they should go bother Rei instead – she's the one in the robot after all. Didn't a couple guys confess to her this morning already? People and their odd taste._

"I'm a little under the weather right now, can it wait?" Shinji finally spoke, before noticing that it was Toji and the class-rep who was trying to get his attention.

"Shinji, are you alright?" Hikari, the class rep, asked with concern. "I know you must be tired from your job, would you like Toji and I to take you down to the nurse?"

Shinji looked at his two friends, and notice that Hikari's hand was all scrapped up and Toji was using some light crutches. "What happened to you guys?" the boy asked.

The two of them smiled, then glanced over at Kensuke, who looked away with shame.

"It's all his fault," Toji started. "Kensuke really wanted to see the Angel yesterday, so he convinced me to follow him out of the shelter. We were watching from atop a nearby mountain ledge when things started getting crazy. There was a lot of explosions, and a bunch of dirt and trees fell down. I got caught under some, and couldn't get out."

"Kensuke panicked and rushed to get help," Hikari continued. "When he came back to find me, we headed out to see Toji." The girl held up her hands. "I got torn up a little trying to dig him out. Eventually we realized how hopeless it was, and Kensuke decided to get his camping kit so we could keep Toji warm."

"And it was a damn good decision!" Kensuke spontaneously shouted. The disapproving looks from his two friends immediately silenced the boy.

"Anyways," Toji resumed, "Hikari and Kensuke eventually set up camp and began broadcasting for help on Kensuke's ham radio. It took until a couple hours after sunset, but we were finally rescued."

"It was really cool!" Kensuke yelled from across the room. "There was a bunch of men wearing black suites who said they were from the special second section of NERV or something! They told us that they picked up our signal, and came looking as quickly as they could! They dug Toji out and gave us top notch medical attention! It was really amazing-"

Kensuke shut up again under the two death glares.

"Well, that's the story," Hikari wrapped up. "We're not talking to Kensuke for a week, because he's a STUPID IDIOT-"

The repentant boy shuddered.

"-so I just wanted you to pass on my appreciation to the NERV doctors and the suited guys. After seeing you in class, even though you must be tired out of your mind, I'm now sure that NERV cares about us a whole lot."

Hikari stopped, going a little red under her eyes. Seeing that, Toji took the opportunity to fill in for her.

"What we're trying to say is," Toji spoke, "we trust you, Shinji, and we trust NERV. You're clearly looking out for the best for us. Even though, sometimes…"

Toji took a short pause.

"…sometimes there's collateral damage, I still believe that you guys are doing your best. So I want you to know that you have our full support and… and…"

Toji looked away.

"…and you can trust us to help you out if you ever need some help on the public and the school side of things."

Shinji looked at his two friends, blinking. Neither was maintaining his eye contact.

Trust? How could they trust him? Shinji wouldn't trust himself; not after what he did yesterday.

What Toji and Hikari saw, what Toji and Hikari trusted in, was an idealistic version of him - an idealistic version of NERV. They were blissful in their ignorance, because that Shinji and that NERV didn't exist on this earth. Perhaps in another world, perhaps somewhere in the ever branching multiverse, there existed a NERV that wouldn't sacrifice the two of them in a heartbeat. Perhaps in that universe, no one dies and Shinji miraculously saves everyone's life: decisively killing the Angel with zero casualty to his friends, the JSSDF, Tokyo-3 or the rest of humanity. But that NERV wasn't here, and that Shinji doesn't exist. What they have instead was a NERV that places humanity above human, and a Shinji that places the mission before his friends.

Shinji stood up, swiping away a bead of tear from his eye. The gasp from his friend as he walked passed didn't even register in his cortex. Slowly, steadily, Shinji approached Rei Ayanami and - leaning on the desk before her - looked down blankly into her freaky red eyes.

"Rei Ayanami," the boy spoke, "I want you to look at those three students: that boy, that boy and that girl."

Rei gaze slowly followed Shinji's fingers.

"Those three students are your friend. Those three students, they trust you with their lives. Rei, from this day forward, not only do you have yourself - your own life - but you have their lives in your hand as well."

Toji and Hikari stood numb. Kensuke, still seated behind his desk, open his mouth wordlessly before closing them again.

"They believed in you yesterday. They believed as you put your life on the line. They believed when others had despair - when others were ready to throw you to the wolves." _Others like me_.

"So the next time you fight, Rei, you have to do it two times as har- no, three times as hard. Your fighting represents humanity, the NERV that we can trust, and your fighting represents me as well."

"As for myself, I'll fight as well. I'll fight to ensure that, when you come home after your battle, you'll come home to a humanity worth saving, to a NERV worth representing, and to these friends who never fail to believe."

And with that, Shinji stood up, walked back to his chair, and sat down in silence.

So what if he was rotten? What if he needed to sell his soul to evil? NERV was rotten too - but that had nothing to do with his character. NERV was run by his father, and he made it a conniving, deceitful, scheming, manipulating corporation that'll sell off it's own people to steal a deal. It didn't have to stay that way. It could become the organization that Toji, Hikari and Kensuke believed. If Shinji needed to step down into hell, he was going to book an appointment with the devil and make sure there's new management in town once he's done. The end justifies the means, and if getting the good ending - the ending where NERV is an organization not just for the abstract concept of humanity, but Rei, Toji, Hikari and Kensuke as well. If getting the good ending means Shinji needed to leave the path of a hero, turn evil, and become someone he would never himself trust? Well, souls have been sold to the devil for less.

They might not have that Shinji, but perhaps, one day, they can have that NERV.

As Shinji sat there, firm in his new mission, the Homeroom teacher entered, and a new day of class began. As the old man approached the podium, he gestured up to deliver an announcement.

"Ahh… I know I said this as well yesterday, but we have a new transfer joining us," the old man said. "I hope you will all welcome her warmly. Now then, why don't you come in and introduce yourself?"

Shinji blinked. _A transfer? He didn't know anything about that. Aren't these easy to catch wind of?_

A young girl with long red hair, crimson clipped, and what was most definitely not the girl's school uniform walked in.

She wrote her name on the board, in German, English, and then Katakana. 'Asuka Langley Soryu, it read.

"Hello everybody," the girl said with a smile. "My name is Asuka Langley Soryu, and I'm transferring to this school because I work for NERV."

The classroom, previously silent, was now _silent_.

"I graduated from Heidelberg University in Germany, so I'll be teaching politics and game theory; as well as replacing your previous teacher as the homeroom faculty of class 2-A."

"Eh?!" The class gasped in unison.

"Don't look at me like that though! I might be young, but I can assure you that my accomplishments are real. I also work as a free agent for the PR department of NERV, so I'll be stationed here as an easily accessible public liaison."

"Huhh?!" said half the class, while the other half's head snapped to look in Shinji's direction.

"Anyways due to the nature of my work, I'm not allowed to disclose too much information." Asuka continued. "But my employer does hope to receive the good will of the younger generations and our nation's future leader. So on their behalf, I'll be happy to acquire for you a range of NERV branded merchandises. I picked up a couple brochures from their public outreach department earlier this morning, so come talk to me after class if you want to take a look. The messenger bag is particularly nice, and I've been meaning to get one myself. I look forward to make your acquaintance."

And with that, the old homeroom teacher turned to leave class, while Asuka replaced him behind the podium.

She didn't even make it there before the riot began.

* * *

_Author's cut: Previously, the last scene of this chapter had Shinji give a rousing speech - solidifying his resolution. However, in retrospect, the scene broke immersion, jarred the tone of the chapter, and wasn't really in character given the situation. There will be a time in H.I.P. for an awesome speech, but now is not that time. The scene is preserved here for prosperity, but it is no longer considered canon._

Toji looked away.

"…and you can trust us to help you out if you ever need some help on the public and the school side of things."

Shinji looked at his two friends, blinking. Neither was maintaining his eye contact.

Trust? Trust in NERV? Trust in an organization that would've bombed them to their grave? These guys must be mad! Shinji would never trust such an organization.

Hold on, wasn't that exactly the reason he was trying to take over NERV? He wanted to take over because he didn't like what the organization was doing! Shinji didn't agree with NERV's direction of saving humanity, so that's why he needed to change the organization into something he could get behind! NERV was a conniving, deceitful, scheming, manipulating corporation under his father, and the only one who can change that, the only one who can make it an organization for _all_ of mankind – not just the abstract concept of humanity but Rei, his friends, and the citizens of Tokyo as well – was Shinji.

And for that, he needed power and influence. Eventually he would need to topple his father, but you gotta walk before you can run.

Shinji suddenly felt much better. The choice yesterday wasn't his decision, it was a consequence of the rotten organization that he was trying to undermine. If he had been in charge, they would've had Unit-02 there a week earlier and there wouldn't have been a problem.

"Thanks, Toji, Hikari," Shinji finally spoke. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

His friends exhaled in a sigh of relief.

With that said, Shinji stepped onto his table and, with a loud clap, silenced the classroom.

"Your attention please, attention!" The boy shouted. "On behalf of NERV and Project E, I would like to announce that we are deeply regretful for every casualty suffered yesterday at the hands of our adversary: the Angel. NERV strives to do our best to look out for you, for that is what we must do! For that is the purpose of our organization! We exist for the survival and prosperity of the human race, and we shall strike down with great vengeance any opposing forces that stand before us; be they angels or demons alike. We fight, because we believe in the light of knowledge, the word of love, the songs of our children-"

Shinji briefly glanced at Toji, Hikari and Kensuke.

"-the encouragements of our friends! We fight for the human race, my friends, because we believe in the human race itself! The adversary before us is heartless, cold and monstrous. They care not for the sound of music, the beauty of art, the rhymes of poetry, or the magic of science. That is why we stand! That is why we fight, and that is why we will win! Though many brave men and woman lay down their lives in sacrifice, they shall not be forgotten! They shall live on in our history for against such wicked adversary we shall prevail, and when we look back – from the future ten thousand years hence – generations of men will say that these moments, upon which we stand today, are our finest hours!"

As Shinji stepped down from his table, amidst a torrent of applause from his friends, he murmured a few soft words – almost inaudible – to his nearest colleague. "You shall have that NERV, Toji, Hikari. You shall have a NERV that you can proudly trust."

Of course, like any great speech, the applause was rudely interrupted by the entrance of their teacher. The students returned to their seat and Shinji sat down at his own – filled to the brim with optimism.

"Ahh… I know I said this as well yesterday, but we have a new transfer joining us," the old man said. "I hope you will all welcome her warmly. Now then, why don't you come in and introduce yourself?"


	7. Nobody wants to be the sucker

NERV Zip-up Hoodie: ￥3,885  
NERV Coffeee Mug: ￥420  
NERV Polo Shirt: ￥3,710  
NERV Folder: ￥135  
NERV Postcard: ￥105

_- Classified Information File#0000017-A, item 92. "NERV Employee Store: An Illustrated Brochure"; Security clearance level 1: Publically Released Information_

* * *

The bright afternoon sun shown down on the roof of Tokyo-3 First Municipal middle school. Ever since the event of Second Impact, Japan's weather has been reduced to one endless perpetual season: summer. Specifically, the warm gentle kind of summer one previously expected in late-August/early-September before the cataclysmic event made it permanent in September of 2000. How this came to be the case, no one can precisely tell. Meteorologist have been scrambling to come up with a good reason for 15-years now; especially since neither the Earth's rotational axis tilt relative to the ecliptic, nor the composition of the atmosphere, could explain the yearlong warmth and endless sunshine. Sure, it still rained from time to time, and any given day could be slightly warmer or colder than others, but there's no mistaking it for anything but late summer – like some magical spell has conspired to lock the weather forever into the kind of season most appropriate for the beginning of the second school trimester in Japan.

Kensuke was not, at all, worried about the weather. He was born after the Second Impact, so he'd never known the world to be any different. Kensuke's father would tell him about the changing weather all the time – how as a high school student, he would have to switch uniforms once it got too cold in the winter. Kensuke thought that it was more of a pain in the ass than something to get nostalgic about. He couldn't ever imagine being unable to camp and play outside for 3-months of the year because in the winter it 'snowed' and you could catch 'hypothermia' and die.

That's why Kensuke did not find anything odd at all about the scene before him: having lunch with his friends on the roof while the sun shined down – just like it did every other day of the year.

The only thing that could possibly be considered odd about the scene was the friends. Specifically, they were joined today by two NERV pilot/employee, each appearing to be around the same age as Kensuke himself. Shinji and Rei had, again, joined him and Toji for lunch; this scene has started to become less and less unusual over the past week now.

Things have been…interesting this past week, to say the least. Shinji's arrival, the revelation that Rei was an Eva pilot, and the massacre of Operation Wakamoru has left several people with a serious case of confusion. The fact that a new 14-year old teacher transferred in, replaced their old sensei as the homeroom faculty, and claims to be another NERV employee as well? Just cherry.

To make matters worse, Asuka had been asked in class that morning whether she actually knew Rei and Shinji or not. The red haired girl had responded that, no, she had never seen the two of them in her life. The same question was swiftly turned over to Shinji who, whether due to secrecy, honesty, or a reluctance to lose face, had responded that he didn't know the new teacher either.

On that day, a new fracture had been wrought through the school. There was two NERV agent/liaison in attendance; both had IDs, both seemed to know what they're talking about, both produced an almost identical NERV paraphernalia brochure, and both delivered on their orders a couple days after. Yet neither knew each other, neither capitulated when asked for potentially incriminating information, and neither seemed to tell the exact same story that the other side did.

With no conclusive way to determine which liaison was the proper authority, the student body was completely torn. Should they believe the new teacher, who the school seemed to recognize on good faith, and who seemed to be highly knowledgeable concerning the actual operations of an Eva? Or should they believe in their colleague who seemed to be endorsed by the one girl they knew _undoubtedly_ piloted Eva (it was pretty much accepted that – given her absence, injury, and really weird personality – Rei was indeed in Unit-01 without question), and shared a much more macroscopic story about how NERV functioned as well as the interplay of various departments.

Of course, nothing prevented any students from believing in both, or calling the entire show a hoax put on by the school to pacify them and sell merchandise. Yet the stories they tell have been salient and, even on simpler matters like news on TV, everybody had their favorite channel. Nothing really serious has happened; it's only been one week since the new players stepped on stage. But it's clear that some students are starting to take sides – and nothing peaceful ever happens when people take sides.

As for Rei? Through a combination of very odd personality and her extreme reluctance to talk about anything, nobody really considers her a viable 'side', except for a small number of boys who claims that she's really 'moe'. Rei herself, though, is _unquestionably_ on Toji, Hikari, and Kensuke's side; there's no doubt about that after Shinji had sorted these three students for her into the category of 'friends'. As for Toji, Hikari, and Kensuke himself? Well, they were probably seen as being on Shinji's side – after all, Shinji was the one they came out to and said they trusted on that morning a week ago.

Shinji seemed to think so too, and has acted as though they were some part of his 'inner circle'. That's why they were here, right now, on top of the school roof, having lunch. Rei started to follow the three of them around for lunch since a week ago, and Shinji occasionally swung in himself; when he wasn't busy impressing some easily persuaded underclassmen to buy more mugs and listen to his propaganda.

Today was one of those occasions and Shinji, having finished his lunch first, had started on his rant again.

"Don't you see? Don't you get it?" the boy was raging at no one in particular. "There is something terribly suspicious about that girl. I mean, come on! A 14-year old genius pilot who turns up out of nowhere and saves the day? Evangelion Unit-02, previously unheard of, waltzes right onto the scene at exactly the right moment? There is something terribly off with that picture, and I can't quite put my finger on what it is.

Kensuke sigh. Since Asuka turned up, Shinji would randomly go on a rant like this – which really just cements the tension between the two. Toji, Hikari and Kensuke himself has born witness to it several times, so this was no big surprise. "You need to take a breather, Shinji," the bespectacled boy started. "There's nothing to gain from getting into a fight with Asuka. Couldn't you two just get along like most colleague in the same organization do? The school would be much more obliging if the two NERV liaison actually worked together."

"Grrr!" Shinji screamed. "For the last time, this has nothing to do with who's the proper NERV liaison! Frankly, I don't give a damn who the school goes to for their inside dirt. It's Asuka! She and Eva-02 changes everything! Well, not everything. She changes something and it's really important and I can't for the life of me figure out what it is that she changes. I've already lost a lot of sleep over this."

"She just means you're not the only source of NERV info in school anymore," Toji chimed in. "Isn't that what changes?"

"NO!"

"Well, why don't you do that thing you always do?" Kensuke suggested. "You know, the analysis thing that you've told us to do if we're ever in deep confusion."

"I have!" Shinji's agony was almost visible on his face. "It doesn't work! Everything seems normal but I still have an unusual amount of apprehension about her. There is nothing out of the ordinary, and that's bugging me like nothing else!"

"That's sounds like paranoia," Toji quipped.

"Toji," Shinji responded, "there is a fundamental difference between paranoia, and a genuine confusion about reality. Confusion means something about the world doesn't match your belief; it means your map of reality doesn't match the territory. Paranoia is an irrational fear that emerges even when the reality around you makes perfect sense."

"That sounds like a description of your current condition right now," Toji continued.

"My god…" Shinji sigh as he grabbed the chain-linked fence for support. "Look, just listen to my analysis, and tell me if something doesn't add up. Alright?"

Kensuke and Toji nodded. Rei – sitting a little off to the side – stared on as she drank from what looked like a NERV branded juice package. The girl always seemed to have one of those for lunch.

"I'm going to explain to you what I know about Unit-02 and Asuka, and then I'll explain how I think I know it." Shinji sat back down on the mat; arms and legs crossed. "Asuka is a genius Evangelion pilot recruited via NERV's selection program from Germany as the Second Children. She has a university degree in Game Theory, the highest sync ratio on record, and teaches sociology/political science at Tokyo-3 first municipal middle school as part of the NERV outreach program. I know this because I've seen her transfer paper and therefore her university transcripts. The chief of Project E keeps telling me about her piloting performance. I also know that she's under the care of the de-facto new head of the PR department, and I've sat through her polysci class. With me so far?"

The two boys nodded. The stoic Rei Ayanami didn't.

"As for Evangelion Unit-02, it's the first Eva off the line of a new production model. It's made in Germany, most likely at the same NERV branch that Asuka came from, and doesn't really seem to be fundamentally different from Unit-00 or Unit-01. It arrived in Japan just in time to defeat the previous Angel because Misato – in an uncharacteristic display of foresight – made a phone call rushing it here two weeks prior. I know Misato made the phone call because she told me and she had no reason to lie. I know it was two weeks ago because that's about the fastest a freight ship could get from Germany to Suruga Bay. I know it's not fundamentally different from the other two Eva because I asked the Project E chief about it. I know it's a production model made in Germany because a senior NERV commander told me the new model has recently been completed, and Asuka arrived here from Germany along with her Eva. Did you get all that?"

The two boys nodded again.

"Now, I know that some of my sources are more credible than others, but I can't disclose any more details on classified information. Given what I've told you, and under the assumption that my classified sources are reliable, does everything sound normal?"

"Yes," the two boys responded together.

"Then why the hell am I still confused?"

Kensuke and Toji looked at each other, before turning back to the boy.

"Paranoia?" they asked in unison.

Shinji silently packed up his lunch box, stood up, and turned to leave.

He took no more than five steps before falling to his knees, clutching his head and screaming at the sky: "AHHHH!"

Kensuke watched as the boys slowly got to his feet again, turned around, and began to speak in a cold, barely controlled manner.

"I'm having a meeting with the senior commander tonight," Shinji spoke. "He's back on base from some god knows what escapade, and summoned me to talk to him. I don't know what the deal is with Asuka – maybe my picture is too restricted or maybe I'm making assumptions I have no place to be making. But I am going to get to the bottom of this, and I'm going to get the senior commander to spill the beans. Hopefully Hikari can give me some ammo before I go in."

And with that, Shinji left the rooftop. Leaving behind him two very confused boy and an unfazed-able girl.

Kensuke looked at his two companion, before asking no one in particular: "What the hell?"

* * *

Hikari Horaki was most definitely _not_ on Shinji's side. She wasn't on Asuka's side either, but sometimes even a neutral member couldn't stay still. Despite her outburst of trust towards the boy a week ago, Hikari didn't have anything like the present mess in mind. This whole faction thing with Shinji vs. Asuka was completely ridiculous, and Hikari wanted as little to do with it as possible. Yet as neutral as she wanted to remain, her two closest friends was already drinking the Shinji kool-aid; and Hikari thinks people are beginning to see her as drinking from Asuka's.

See, it was all very reasonable and perfectly explainable from Hikari's perspective. Asuka was a new, young teacher in school. She didn't really know her class yet, and felt a slight disconnect with her fellow faculty. It was obviously inevitable that she would one day approach Hikari, the class rep of her homeroom class, and ask for some help and guidance. Hikari, being a respectable student who was trusted to take care of her class, couldn't exactly turn down a good faith request for assistance from the homeroom teacher. Being the same age as the new faculty advisor meant she rapidly shot up the young teacher's list of friends – no doubt in part precipitated by her sense and sensibility, reliability on the task, and stunningly renowned popularity in school. With everything Asuka was going through, how could Hikari leave her new friend/teacher alone, especially during lunch when everyone has grouped off somewhere else?

Still, this doesn't mean Hikari was batting on Asuka's side either. She likes to think of herself as an intermediary, connecting the world of her guy friends with that of her new teacher. Hikari plans to stay friendly with both, and that means sharing some information about either side when the other party asks.

"…and that's what Shinji's been telling everybody about you." Hikari finally wrapped up her story. "Are you sure you didn't know him from before? He seems awfully upset at you for some reason."

"I really don't know him," Asuka answered her friend. They were eating together in the faculty lounge – a nicer, comfier area with several couches and a number of stylish coffee table. Hikari didn't mind the plush sofas at all; not one bit.

"I've been in Germany all my life," Asuka continued. "A lot of time goes into getting a degree at 14, you know? Besides, I've already told you that the first time I formally met Shinji was when the chief of Project E brought all the Children together for an introduction. That was the evening of my second day here. I honestly swear I've never seen the boy before."

"Then why do you think he hates you so much?" Hikari pondered.

"The boy doesn't hate me, he's way too smart to be petty like that," Asuka answered. "Kaji told me what he's been up to the two weeks since he got to NERV. Shinji is smart – a rational player if I've ever saw one. Did you know that he actually refused to pilot the Eva?"

"What?!" Hikari almost shouted.

"I know! It's obvious to a rational player straight away: a diner's dilemma or, in other words, a multiple player prisoner's dilemma game," Asuka continued. "You've been paying attention in my class, so you know about the prisoner's dilemma, right?"

"Yeah." Hikari answered.

"Well a multiple player prisoner's dilemma or a diner's dilemma is very similar to the single player game. Except in this case, several people are at a dinner, and after having agreed to split the bill equally, they can choose to either order the cheaper or the more expensive dish. Now, the more expensive dish taste marginally better, but isn't really worth the full cost of the price hike – but it'll be worth it if you can divide the cost over all of your dining mates."

Hikari nodded; she was beginning to see where this was heading.

"But the thing is, everybody realizes this fact; and nobody wants to be the sucker who is stuck with the cheap dish while all your friends pile up their cost on you. So everybody orders the more expensive dish; and everybody gets stuck with a bill they'd rather not pay."

Hikari nodded again. "So what does this have anything to do with Shinji?"

Asuka smiled. "Imagine that on the very first day Shinji – the rational player – walks into NERV and was told he needed to pilot Eva and kill the Angel. He immediately realizes he's not the only NERV pilot and, if he refuses and let somebody else do it, he can benefit off of the pilot's reputation and enjoy a vanquished angel without ever putting himself at risk to life or limb. It's the rational thing to do: why absorb a cost when you reap the same benefits anyways?"

"I see," realization begins to dawn on Hikari. "Well, what's to stop everybody from refusing to pilot as well? Wouldn't we all be dead in that case?"

"I suppose in that case the analogy fails," Asuka answered, "and the situation is much more similar to mutually assured destruction or brinkmanship instead. But that's getting ahead of ourselves. The point being that Shinji probably had a reason to believe he wasn't up against another rational player, or somehow or another realizes that somebody would step in before the situation devolved too far. That's what he's doing here too. He's using slander and underhanded tactics against me, hoping that I don't retaliate and drag the NERV name down to hell. It's a very effective strategy. If I just idly sit by and do nothing, pretty soon nobody in school will believe a word I say."

Hikari looked at the girl sitting across from her – sounding for all intent and purpose like a younger nuclear strategist from the 1960's. "So what are you going to do about it?" she finally asked. "What are you going to do that doesn't mutually assure your destruction?"

"Why, I pretend like I'm going to mutually assure our destruction, of course." Asuka answer. This drew considerable confusion from her companion, so Asuka continued. "Shinji doesn't realize I'm a rational player as well. What I need to do is make him know I'm crazy enough to drag both of us down; that way, he'll back down and I also won't have to escalate any further. If we both know that we _can_ do it, neither of us will actually _want_ to, see?"

Hikari did, indeed, see it; though it was the kind of see that fluttered in and out perpetually in the peripheral vision of her eye.

"I have a meeting with the senior commander later today," Asuka said as she stood up – having finished her meal. "I'm told he's been gone for a week, and the first thing he wants to do when he gets back is see me. Must be pretty important, right? I hear he's a pretty rational guy too, so as soon as I tell him about what Shinji is doing, I'm sure he'll throw down some sanctions. Even if he's the commander's son, there's a limit to what you can do when it comes to group moral. Stupid Shinji thinks he can beat me at my own game. Well, I'll show him a thing or two! They don't call me a genius for nothing!"

Asuka got up and started to leave the room, before turning around again. "Thanks for the lunch box again, Hikari. Your cooking is really marvelous. I'll wash them up and give them back to you in class. Oh, and don't tell anybody about what I said today, ok?"

Then Asuka left through the door. Hikari had finished her meal as well, and slowly began to pack up – lost in thought. Shinji had arranged a quick meeting with her after school lets out today, probably to leverage the fact that she had proclaimed him trustworthy and exploit her friendly relationship with Asuka.

_I can't tell him everything,_ the girl pondered, _that would just be betraying Asuka. I can't tell him nothing either, that would dislodge my position as a neutral party. I'll probably do what I always do: tell him something spicy that doesn't really _tell_ him anything at all. That's a good plan. I'll see how it plays out._

And with that, Hikari left the faculty room. Closing the door behind her on the gentle afternoon sun; forever shining through the windows across the comfy sofa, the stylish table and the swanky lounge.

* * *

_Hello! A shorter chapter this time round. It's a good place to stop, and the author doesn't want to go for too long without an update. Looks like he's setting the scene for something major next time!_

_The reader might be able to guess what it is that's bugging Shinji. Try his analysis yourself, and see what Unit-02's existence and Asuka's arrival changes. Check back next time to see if you're right!_


	8. The only sane person in the room

Ingredients:

- 12-ounce Japanese Wagyu Rib-eye

- 2 tablespoons butter

- 2 cloves garlic

- Salt and Pepper

Directions:

- Salt and Pepper both sides of the steak at room temperature

- Oil and bring a skillet to medium-high heat

- Place the steak in the middle of the skillet. Cook for 2.5-3 minutes

- Flip the steak once. Cook for ~2 more minutes

- Add butter and garlic to the pan – allowing the butter to melt into a sauce. Basted the steak with the butter sauce. Approx ~1 minute

- With a pair of tongs, turn the steak onto its edge to cook any surrounding fat.

- Remove steak from skillet. Pour on a tablespoon of the butter sauce; rest for 30 seconds.

- Slice, garnish, and serve

(handwritten) _The senior commander prefers his steak medium-rare_

_- Classified Information File#0000017-A, item 88. "The Cookbook of NERV: from Express Dining to serving Foreign Dignitaries"; Security clearance level 1: Publically Released Information_

* * *

Misato was less than thrilled to have a dinner meeting with the senior commander. Why did she have to dress up for this? She never really enjoyed his company, and even Shinji would make a more romantic date than his crazy dad. The captain of NERV huffed - at least the food should be good. Pushing open the door to the executive's dining room, Misato checked her watch once more: 10-minutes early. Good.

The double door opened to reveal a dimly lit dining room with a long table in the middle. Around it sat Kaji, Ritsuko, Shinji, Rei and Asuka; all dressed superbly.

"Huh?" Misato said. "What are you guys doing here? I thought I was supposed to meet the senior commander for dinner."

"I thought so too," Kaji responded. "The note said I should prepare for a nice dinner, so I thought I'd arrive early in case it was an important affair. Imagine my surprise when I saw Rei here! She told me she'd already been waiting about 5 minutes before I arrived."

"I got here about 15-minutes before you did," Ritsuko continued. "I already knew Rei had some sort of appointment tonight that she wanted to be half-an-hour early for. When I walked in the door and saw the company, I immediately understood how this was going to play out."

"I arrived 10-minutes after Kaji." Shinji chimed in. "I'm really disappointed. There's something confidential I'd wanted to talk to the commander about. Actually, I would've been fine saying it in front of you guys anyways. At least, until sweet little miss here turned up 5-minutes ago."

"Eh? Shinji has some issues he needs to clear up with his dad?" Asuka snarked. "I hope it's nothing too serious. I'd hate for some misunderstanding to tear you two apart."

"Can it, sweet." Shinji countered. "Why would my father have any business with you anyways? Not in the market for a sugar-daddy are you, A-zuc-ka?"

"Knock it off, Children." Misato said as she took her seat next to Asuka, across from Ritsuko. "It's clear that the commander had no intentions of speaking with any of us individually tonight. Whatever it is that man is planning, it's clear he wants us all to find out together. I'm sure everything will be explained very soon now."

So they sat and waited. The time of the appointment rolls by and, unsurprisingly, Gendo doesn't turn up.

"Umph!" Asuka yawned as she stretches. "What's going on? I thought the Japanese are supposed to be really good with time. Hey, Kaji, after this, let's go get some ice cream downtown. It's a lovely night out tonight." The girl turned towards the gruffly man to her side.

"What's wrong, A-zuc-ka?" Shinji quipped. "Got a bit of a sweet tooth?"

Asuka took a deep breath, counted to ten under her breath, then snapped.

"What is your problem anyways?" the girl yelled at the boy sitting across from her. "You've been on my case since I got here, and I've done nothing but tried to friendly with you. I know the things you've been saying about me in school. What's the matter? Can't stand being the second most popular or the second smartest person in the room? You want a piece of me? Come and get it!"

"Calm down, Asuka," Kaji reached out a hand to grab the girls shoulder, but Asuka slapped it off.

"Mr. Kaji, when someone says that, nobody ever calms down." Shinji spoke. "And you know what, Asuka? I'll play your game, you rogue. Who are you, and why are you really here? What is Eva Unit-02, and how did it get here just in time to save the world? Who do you really work for, Asuka?"

Misato made a motion to stop the two children, but Ritsuko cut her off. "It's been brewing for a long time, it seems," the head scientist winked. "Let it air out."

"You know perfectly well who I am, stupid Shinji," Asuka retorts. "I'm the guardian angel that saved you from bombing Tokyo. I'm the second Children, the genius prodigy pilot, and Eva Unit-02 is my steed. I work for NERV, unlike you who refused to do the one job he's been assigned with. What's wrong with you? Do you think you can just ride on the First's and my coat tail all the way to greatness? Well sorry, stupid, but there's no such thing as a free lunch. Why don't you stop moping around like a boy, and start carrying your weight around here like everybody else?"

"Because piloting Eva is DUMB!"

Misato couldn't help staring at Shinji – she noticed that everyone else was staring his way as well.

"Because it's just about the dumbest thing I could possibly do here at NERV," Shinji continued. "You know what happened when Unit-01 was scrambled. Did you really think that I, who had no training or experience, stood a better chance against that Angel that Rei? She has 7-months of training on me and even she almost died! We have had no Eva to get me oriented on since then, and I spent that time coming up with a method that would've saved the human race had you not turned up. And did I mention that piloting Eva was completely suicidal? Did you know what happened to Rei the first two times she piloted, and what could've happened the third time round? If you're so gung-ho about it, then why do _you_ pilot Eva?"

"I'll tell you why I pilot the Eva," Asuka snapped back, "It's to exhibit my talent to the world, of course! Do you know how special we are? There are 3-billion people in the world, and before you turned up, there was only two Children who could pilot humanity's ultimate weapon. Do you know how small that ratio is? That's even rarer than one-in-a-billion! If you've been buying a lottery ticket every second since you were born with that odds, you'd need to play until you're 35 if you want the probability of winning to be higher than not. Being a NERV pilot is so special, even a university degree at 14 pales in comparison. What have _you_ done, Shinji? If you want to squander your opportunity to really _be_ somebody – your one opportunity to stand as the best of the human race – then I don't give a damn if you wallow forever in mediocrity. As for me, I'm going to be doing my darnest to show them that I deserve my less-than-one-in-a-billion."

"Oh yeah?" Shinji retorts. "You think you're so special. You think you're on top of the world just because you're chosen to pilot some tin-can robot that can't even walk for more than five minutes without a power cord? Well, I got some news for you, sweets. You were chosen because –"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Ritsuko roared.

Misato's glance darted from the two Children – who was shocked into complete silence – before stopping on her dear friend – who had become death, the destroyer of worlds.

"You two have been at each other's throat for long enough," Ritsuko said as she finally calmed down. "That was a disgrace, and you should be ashamed of yourself. If you have ideological differences, you will sort it out in a manner befitting of a NERV public liaison. Don't you think I don't know what you've been up to at that school, Asuka, Shinji, Kaji!"

Misato noticed a thin smile on Kaji's lips before he dodged Ritsuko's gaze.

"Now if I'm quite understood," Ritsuko continued, "I want to hear no more on this subject from either of you until the end of dinner. I shall be summoning the waiter, and he shall start us off with Hors d'oeuvres. You children will be behaving yourself until the very end of the night. That's quite enough bitterness in my mouth already. Do I make myself clear?"

The two pilots looked at Ritsuko, and synchronously bowed. "Yes ma'am," said the children.

* * *

Shinji was brooding. Never mind that the soup before him was probably the best bisque he'd ever tasted – Shinji's mind was off wandering somewhere else. Specifically, in the land of 'intent and purpose' where he had hoped to pick up some for himself, but couldn't find any.

He understood why Ritsuko had shouted. He was about to spill the beans about Marduk, and Ritsuko wanted to keep that under wraps. _She's right,_ his brain prompted,_ our knowledge about Marduk is really powerful, and I expect better from myself than to lose it in a burst of anger. I apologize for this misconduct._

Shinji frowned. What ticked him off wasn't that Asuka was wrong; quite the contrary. He'd been getting by on the excuse that there's no Eva for him to pilot, but that excuse is about to expire – with Unit-01 looking like it will finish repairs in a couple of days. Shinji hadn't really planned on pilot Unit-01 even then; unconsciously postponing a new excuse until there was a real and urgent need. But was there a reason he should continue playing truancy? Now that there were three children, that makes him approximately one-in-a-billion, which is still incredibly rare and should signal him an opportunity of a lifetime. Was he apprehensive just because he hated his father's guts, and wanted to do everything he could to sabotage the man's agenda? _That's a terrible reason,_ said his brain, _and you should be ashamed of yourself for using it as one. Come up with something better_.

_That's your job_, said the internal prosecutor.

_Shut up_, said the brain, _I'm tired and I'm running on a lot of handicap. How 'bout this? Something something something gotta stay healthy and out of the Eva to change NERV some such non-such._

_That's… pretty good actually_, the prosecutor answer.

_Thank you,_ replied the brain. _Now if you'll excuse me, I shall be spending the rest of my processing power digesting how delicious this bisque is_.

_Wait a minute,_ the prosecutor spoke,_ don't you wonder what it is that drives Misato or Ritsuko? You know your last answer was a half-assed excuse designed to appease me, and you might one day actually need a real intent and purpose to keep you going._

The brain groaned. _Fine, fine. Mouth, do your stuff… I mean ask Ritsuko about it. Forget the bisque for 2-seconds you gluttonous pig._

* * *

Ritsuko looked at the boy sitting next to her. "Why do I work for NERV?" she asked.

"Yeah," Shinji responded. "I've been wondering for a while now why you do what you do. I mean, Asuka does it because she's a showoff-"

Asuka, who was distracting herself with Kaji, twitched.

"-and Rei does it because she's a weirdo. But you seem like a well-adjusted, career-oriented woman. Why are you here working for NERV?"

Kaji chuckled. "Shinji, in a couple months, Ritsuko's going to turn thirty. She live alone, and she's not in a stable relationship. She has a distinct affinity towards cats, and smokes more cigarettes than she cares to admit. If you think she's well-adjusted, you need to check your controls."

"Shut up!" Ritsuko yelled. "You're one to talk, Kaji. You're older than me, and it looks like you're going places as well. Anyways, Shinji, it's strictly my policy never to talk about myself – as a scientist, I find it much more fascinating to look into test subjects and phenomenon. There's nothing amusing about me, so I'd much prefer if you got back to your food and stayed quiet. The last five minutes that you've been silent was an extremely pleasant one."

"Aww, come now Ritzy," Misato urged, "Shinji's trying to reach out to his guardian! You're a parental-figure to him, and he's just trying to borrow your inspiration! Won't you share some of that drive that makes you such a career-oriented woman?"

"I've had it with you lot!" the scientist answered. "Ok! I'll tell you some stories, but only on the condition that I get to enjoy the rest of my meal in peace and silence. This dinner meeting has turned into quite a farce. Do we have a deal, Shinji?"

The boy nodded, so Ritsuko began to collect her thoughts.

"Let's see… I guess I can tell you about Magi and the Evas. That technically doesn't violate my rule. Do you know anything about the supercomputer that's down in the main command center?"

Shinji took a long pause. "Only what's in the manual. The Magi are supposed to be really powerful and only agree on a big decision if all three are unanimous. It's supposed to manage political actions around Japan and most military decisions under NERV's direct control as well, right?"

"Right," Ritsuko answered. "Unfortunately, however, the manual doesn't do justice to the system. Did you know that the person who came up with the framework was one Dr. Naoko Akagi, my mother?"

"Wow, that's incredible," Asuka chimed in. The girl had started paying attention when she heard the word 'military decisions'.

"My mother was a genius in bioinformatics and A.I. ethics," Ritsuko continued. "She was breaking new ground on science no one knew existed before. Using Metaphysical Biology techniques she developed with a colleague, my mother came up with a method of imprinting her personality profile into the Magi computers. She separated her own character into three: the women, the scientist and the mother. Those three personality are locked in a constant struggle right now, breathing a human spark into an otherwise cold and calculating computer machine."

"That's awesome," Shinji wowed. "A computer with human personality. So like an A.I.?"

"Almost, but not exactly," Ritsuko answered. "The Magi aren't conscious in the sense of being aware of their own awareness. Don't get me wrong – they'll destroy most Turing test you can come up with. But that's all it is: an imitation. The Magi has an impossibly big look-up table that defines its internal utility function. The table is being constantly updated so that, from the outside, it looks like any questions being answered is responded to with consciousness. That's the genius of Naoko Akagi, my mother. She was able to use the various techniques to initialize the look-up table using her three mental states as a seed, then create a feedback loop that allows the table to update as the Magi runs. It's the most brilliant way I could think of to give a computer human value and ethics, if you ask me."

"Impressive!" Shinji eyes sparkled. He had no idea the Magi were so capable. "So what do you do? Your mothers' the prime authority on the Magi, right? What kind of research is she designing? Are you participating? How do we ensure that they have a friendly attitude towards mankind? Are the Magi capable of innovating? Are you –"

"Slow down, Shinji," Ritsuko responded. She'd hate to admit it, but she was enjoying his enthusiasm. "Unfortunately, my mother passed away five years ago, on the night of Magi's completion. It was a tragedy – nobody saw it coming. Oh how geniuses always die so young. To this day, some people whisper of suicide; but I for one believe that she's better than that."

Ritsuko smiled, as she reminisced on some distant memory.

"You know, I once tried to see if she could really commit suicide. There's one way to conclusively find out. Do you know what that is?"

Shinji looked puzzled. Asuka, who was also listening in, started pondering as well.

"Erm…" the boy mused. "Do you have some closed-circuit camera? A farewell note? How did she die? Why would she do it? If someone killed her, did they have means, motive and opportunity?"

"It's easier to solve than that," Ritsuko chuckled. "I've told you all the relevant information you need to construct the test already."

Shinji pondered deeper. What has Ritsuko said? What information has she provided concerning her mother that lets her test for suicide?

Then it clicked.

"You just-"

"Of course!" Asuka started, drowning Shinji out with a shout. "You just ask the Magi."

The head of Project E smiled. "Well done, Asuka, but I expected no less from someone who calls herself a genius. It's straightforward, really. If the Magi had an identical copy of Naoko's psych profile, then asking if it could possibly commit suicide, given a variety of circumstances, should conclusively determine whether my mother could've done so as well."

Misato suddenly leapt to her feet. Slamming her hand on the table, she pointed at her friend and shouted: "That's unbelievably dangerous, Ritsuko! What would you have done if the Magi decided to self-terminate?! What would've happened if one of the simulations gave the Magi an existential crisis and it decided to die?!"

"No need to worry, Misato," Ritsuko grinned. "I had my suspicions, and every time Melchior and Balthazar gave up, Caspar would always save the day and say 'no, impossible'."

Misato breathed a sigh of relief, then sat down.

"Caspar, by the way," Ritsuko resumed, "holds the 'woman' part of my mother's personality. I respect her as a scientist, and I don't think I'll ever understand her as a mother – but I hate her as a woman. She would never give up; she'll fight until the very end. That's how I know my mother didn't commit suicide. Whether she was murdered, or whether it was an unfortunate accident, I might never know. But at least I know that she had more to give if she'd lived – that in a counterfactual world, my mother would be doing god knows what right now with Magi at her fingertips."

Ritsuko picked up her wine glass, and took a drink. "That's the story of the Magi. My mother's legacy lives on and, in fact, the methods you use to interface with Eva is derived from the same technique that my mother and her colleague developed. The colleague, too, was an impressive scientist of her own right – she essentially came up with the entire infrastructure of the Eva, but that's a story for another time. In reality, my work here is mostly an engineering problem. Research-wise, I know half as much about the Magi as my mother, and I know even less about mechanics of the Eva. I just so happen to be the one-eyed woman in this land of the blind. Compared to the Gehirn generation, I'm a glorified repair technician. Aside from minor tinkering here and there, I just stop everything from grinding to a halt and imploding."

The scientist put down her glass, and turned towards the Third Children. "And that, Shinji, is why I work for NERV. My previous collaboration with my mother guarantees that I need to be here. But even as I speak, my assistant Maya is learning much of what I have to offer – so one day even that reason might be gone as well. You'll find no inspiration in me, I'm afraid."

Shinji gaze flitted away. After a brief moment, however, he looked back; a little red under his eyes.

"That's not true, Ritsuko!" the boy said. "That's not true at all. You're a brilliant scientist, and you're the only one who can figure out the Angels! You know your priorities and how to make tough decisions. Even after we figure out the Angels, even after we beat them all, NERV is going to need people like you if it's to become a pinnacle of peace in the world. You're really inspiring, and there's no way you'll run out of purpose. What you're saying is too small, too sad; so don't say it!"

The table was silent. After a moment, the boy turned away again.

"And right now, you're looking after me and Rei as well. Even she would be sad if you were gone."

Ritsuko noticed Misato's and Kaji's staring at her. Looking back to the boy, she gently touched him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, Shinji, I'm not going anywhere for a while." The chief of Project E smiled. "The entire political sphere of Japan would die if I stopped looking after Magi, after all. Besides, there's plenty more machines like it being deployed all over the world. Do you really think that, having created a computer this useful, NERV would stop at having only one?"

Ritsuko paused, taking a second to consider her next sentence. "And engineering problems aren't necessarily trivial, you know? If we learned nothing from Wakamoru, it's that there's plenty of room for conjunctive use of Magi and Eva.

Asuka took that opportunity to prod Kaji. "Aww, Kaji – Ritsuko sounds so cool! Come on! Tell that idiot Shinji what you do as well! He's not the only one who has a really cool guardian!"

Kaji patted the girl on the back. "Sorry princess, but Chief of Project E and Administrator of the Magi is pretty hard to beat. I'm afraid I got nothing."

As Asuka started pouting and frowning, the double doors to the dining room opened, and in stepped Fuyutsuki Kozo followed by the waiter

"Sorry to keep you all waiting," the NERV second-in-command spoke as he took a seat at the host's spot; before noticing the empty bisque bowl in front of everyone else. "I see you've wisely chosen not to wait after all. No problem, I for one certainly don't mind. Waiter, please bring in the next course. Commander Ikari unfortunately won't be able to join us tonight, so please send the meal to his quarter instead."

The waiter bowed, and left the room. After a moment's pause, Misato turned towards the second commander, and asked the question that's been on everyone's mind.

"Commander, we appreciate the five course dinner, but why are we meeting tonight? We're under the impression that the senior commander has something important to speak to each of us."

Fuyutsuki glanced back at her, then spoke: "Once we're done with the food, we shall talk business. Don't worry, I've been informed exactly what needs to be told from Ikari Gendo; so until we really must, there's no need to spoil such a delightful dinner. Until then, we shall be enjoying the meal without interruptions. The night is young, and I really do like having young people for dinner once in a while."

* * *

After all that food, Shinji was stuffed. The bisque was followed by smoked salmon, Caesar salad, a 12oz Wagyu steak and finally Italian Sorbet. As the table was cleared, the boy can honestly say he has never had such an elegant meal in his life. With his stomach full and content, Shinji sat back and watched as Asuka bemoaned the dessert course: she no longer had an excuse to go ice-cream hunting downtown with Kaji. He hadn't forgotten their exchange from earlier – but at the moment, Shinji was happy to let the confrontation slide for tonight. He'll sort it out with her sometime afterwards.

The boy noticed that throughout the entire meal, Rei – who was seated next to him – had an entirely different selection of food: completely devoid of meat. Right now, the girl was drinking from one of those NERV juice pack again, something only provided to her.

"Ok," Fuyutsuki finally spoke, "Now that we're all filled and ready, let us begin on tonight's agenda."

The second commander then stood up, and pulled a paper note-card out of his coat pocket. As he did so, the lights in the room dimmed further, except for the spot surrounding Fuyutsuki himself.

"Captain Katsuragi Misato, please stand."

Misato rose to her feet. A halo lit up around her as she did so.

"Captain Katsuragi," Fuyutsuki continued, "NERV would like to congratulate you for your work in recent skirmishes. The poise you held under pressure, and the foresight you had weeks before the Angel encounter, ensured that humanity is victorious with minimal casualty. Your actions as chief of operations is exemplary. For these reasons, the senior commander has recommended that you be promoted to the rank of Major. Congratulations."

Misato took a bow, while everyone clapped. As she retook her seat, the lights dimmed around her again.

"Kaji Ryouji, please stand."

Kaji did so. Lights up again as if on cue.

"Mr. Kaji, the NERV senior command would like to welcome you to the main branch. We have been aware of your performance at NERV Germany for some time now. We believe that, given more authority and increased resources, you would be better suited to serve mankind. For this reason, we have transferred you over to Tokyo-3. Now, although you will be titled as head of the PR department, you are actually being assigned the position of Chief of Information Security, in charge of the department of security intelligence. This is a highly confidential position, so apart from everyone in this room and the senior commander himself, no one is to be informed of this. Everybody, please join me in congratulating Mr. Kaji – it is a highly secretive position and for that, this shall be the only official recognition he will get."

"I hope to live up to my duty, both to NERV and mankind." Kaji bowed as the table applauded; Asuka exceptionally enthusiastically.

_Inconsistency alert_, the prosecutor spoke inside of Shinji's brain. _If it's so secret, why's he telling the rest of us?_ _Your honor, we request that this information be regarded with extreme skepticism._

_Noted_, said the brain, _carry on_.

"Dr. Akagi Ritsuko, please stand." The senior scientist stood up.

"Dr. Akagi, the NERV senior command would like to recognize you for your long-standing contribution to the Project-E and the defense of mankind. Given the constrain you faced, the conception of operation wakamoru is highly commendable. We wish to recognize innovation, and the application of novel techniques against an enemy with only one known previous weakness cannot be lauded enough."

Ritsuko bowed. "I apologize for the failure. It will not happen again in the future."

"Do not belittle your achievements, Dr. Akagi. The operation proved that conventional weapons work against the Angels. The Ikari theorem is an invaluable piece of information that will save many lives in the future. With that in mind, I would like to announce the extension of Project E to a global scale. Our recent enemies have shown that the capability of fielding additional Eva is priceless. In this light, and given the successful deployment of Unit-02 from Germany, we will be extending our Eva production to other NERV branches around the world as well. Construction of Unit-03 through 06 have already been approved by the UN Security Council, and they will be carried out by our second and third branches in America and Germany immediately. To oversee these operations, a new subdivision is being formed as an extension of Project E dubbed the International Project Evangelion Agency, abbreviated as IPEA hereafter. Dr. Akagi, your experience with Project E and the Magi system makes you an obvious pick to lead the IPEA. As of this moment, your authority has been expanded to cover production of all Evangelions worldwide. On behalf of NERV and all of humanity, I'd like to thank you for your constant diligence."

Ritsuko bowed again before taking her seat.

"Finally, to the first and second Children," Fuyutsuki continued. "The commanders of NERV wishes to thank you for your efforts against the Angels. We recognize that, to protect humanity, you put yourself at substantial risk; sacrificing a peaceful civilian life to fight for us. Keep up the good work – and Asuka, welcome to Japan."

"Thank you, commander!" The red-haired girl spoke with energy. Rei, on the other hand, merely bowed and retook her seat.

"You may have noticed," Fuyutsuki spoke as the girls sat down, "that I have yet to address one last member present."

Everyone turned to look at Shinji.

"This is because of the…er… difficulty of correctly conveying the senior commander's intention to the Third Children. As such, I shall be reading the exact words that the commander has asked me to share. Please note that these are his words and not mine. The message follows:

'Excellent, my son. You have shown the capacity to deliver on your threats after all. Did it come as a surprise, though, that you should fail because there are others plans in motion aside from your own? Know that you've just entered into a game the rules of which you know not, and that you're hardly the only one who can think a couple steps ahead! You had best give up your ambitions now, and obediently listen to what the adults around you tell you to do. As a demonstration of my love, however, I have prepared three bunnies for you as consolation. You may pick them up at the location on this card.'"

Fuyutsuki walked towards Shinji and handed him the notecard he had been holding.

"That is all," the second commander concluded. "I hope you all enjoy the rest of your night."

* * *

Immediately inside Shinji's head, several trains of thought broke out. The first and most foremost consisted of three simple, straightforward words.

_What the hell_?

It was interrupted almost instantly by a second train – this one consisting of two.

_He knows_.

Shinji shuddered. _He knows. He knows what I plan to do. He knows that I want to dethrone him. He knows I wasn't just toying around and that I'm seriously playing for keeps. Dammit! I didn't want to start this fight until I've secured my position. Not only has the game already begun, I'm already behind by a move. This is bad, really bad._

The boy almost didn't notice the third train of thought. This one was a little longer.

_It's her. She's the other plan in motion. It's Asuka. I should've known. There was no way Misato could've done it by herself. She's smart, but not this kind of smart; this one has my father written all over it. The major must've been manipulated somehow. That's how Asuka came from Germany on time. That's how they got Unit-02 on the ground just before we had to fry Tokyo. _

At this point, the train of thoughts are no longer numbered. They simply ran wild like a set of metaphors driven too hard.

_So that's why he put Asuka in school with me. That's why she's doing the same campaign. That's why I'm living with Ritsuko. That's how I'm being monitored and undermined. That's why Rei never speaks, so she can listen. That's why he lets me know about Marduk, because he's sure he's going to win. That's why. That's why. That's why!_

_STOP!_ His internal analyzer shouted. _Nearly zero of these thoughts are grounded. I'd like to call each of them onto the stand, subject to inquiry by the prosecution._

Shinji took a deep breath and slumped forward. That message, weird as it was, put him in a state of high tension. His mind was in disarray and if he was forced to make a decision right now, it'll probably be a really dumb one. Relax. Clear my thoughts. Calm down and identify the confusions.

Ok.

So how much of those ideas actually held water? Does Gendo know?

_Yes. Probably. The posterior probability that he doesn't, given that he mentioned the game and my ambition, is incredibly low. Plus, we sort of told him about it on our first day here._

Dammit. Ok. Let's hold off on determining what that implies for now. Is Asuka a part of his plan?

_Less certain, but leaning towards likely. Misato isn't one to cook up a plan that cunning so far in advance, so the prior is low. The most likely explanation is that Gendo was behind it, but we can't rule out a spark of inspiration from Misato either._

Good. Let's keep going. Is Asuka in school specifically to sabotage me?

_Fifty-fifty_. _The fact that she's in school and the possibility that Gendo brought her seems independent. Her presence could be explained by several other factors, including Kaji. But that doesn't mean it's not the case either. This analysis is indeterminate._

Pfft. The other ideas seem less credible now that we've calmed down. Ritsuko barely has time to sleep, let alone monitor us. Rei doesn't talk because she's weird like that, and there is no reason why knowing about Marduk could possibly help Gendo. So we're left with…

_Determining if Asuka is out to get us or not_, responded his internal prosecutor. _No more questions for now, your honor. I shall dispatch investigators to look into Asuka._

* * *

Shinji sat back up again in his chair. He was back to square one in the sense that the only way forward was to ask Asuka questions. Well, dinner was technically over so if he tried to be civil, maybe he could-

"What the hell was that?" Asuka shouted at Fuyutsuki – Shinji suddenly realized how little time had passed while his brain was in court. "You Japanese people are so weird, I don't know what's going on anymore! Shinji shrimps out on his duty and he gets bunnies? What?! It's like this place is a bad comedy! IPEA? Ikari theorem? 'Operation wa-ka-mo-ru'? Seriously? What's up with the Angels anyways? In fact, who decided to call them Angels? They don't look like any Angels in my book, more like demons out of some bad dream! Look at me! I'm the big scary demon-slayer! You said I saved humanity, right? If Shinji got bunnies for doing nothing, maybe I can get the Nobel peace prize for saving the human race? Why does it seem like I'm the only sane person in the-"

Asuka abruptly stopped. Shinji followed her gaze and noticed that she was staring at Ritsuko – who had stood up from her chair and had a look of sudden comprehension on her face.

"Wait… hold on…" the head scientist stuttered. "If that's the case, then… I… I…"

Ritsuko collected herself, looked at all of her dining companion, before bowing towards Fuyutsuki.

"Commander, I must go. Right now. Please excuse me."

And with that, she sprinted out of the dining room.

For brief moment, one could almost imagine tumbleweeds rolling through the room.

"Asuka, what did you just do?!" Misato broke the silence. Everyone jumped out of their seat and began to surround her. Everyone except, of course, Rei.

"I… I… I just…"

"Misato, excuse me, but this might be important." Shinji interrupted. "Asuka, please repeat to me what you just said, as exactly as you can remember."

"I…err…" the girl wavered. "I said 'why does it seem like I'm the only sane person in the room?'"

"Before that," Shinji prompted.

"I said 'If you got bunnies, maybe I can get the Nobel peace prize'"

"Hrm… nothing. Before that?"

"Erm… 'I'm a demon slayer, and I saved humanity'?"

_Hmm._

"Still nothing. Before that?"

"Well… erm… I was talking about Angels-"

_Click._

"- and how they looked to me. I said they looked like-"

"Stop," Shinji interrupted her. "Asuka, I'm going to ask you a very odd question, and I want you to humor me. Ok?"

"Err… Ok. Shinji, what's going on?"

"You'll see. Now, try to forget everything we talked about tonight. Try to forget everything you learned since you came to this so called 'weird Japanese NERV'. Try to think back to the time you were entering Unit-02 for your first real fight. Before you knew about a real Angel, Operation: Wakamoru, or even what Tokyo-3 look like"

"Ok…? Shinji, is this getting anywhere?"

"Yes. We're almost there. Now, place yourself back, as best as you can, in your mental state then. Trying to remember what you smelled, what physical sensation you felt, or a song you heard might be helpful to recall that mental state. Once you've done that – once you're very sure you're in that state – let me know and I'll ask my question."

"Fine…er… smell… song…" Asuka closed her eyes, and sat for a moment in silence. After a couple seconds, the girl spoke out again without opening her eyes.

"Ok. Got it. What's the question?"

"What, exactly, would have happened if you lost to the Angel?"

"Jeez, Shinji, that's morbid. Well… err… I guess I would die, then everyone in Tokyo-3 would die, then everyone in NERV HQ would die, and then humanity would die… I guess?"

"Stop," Shinji spoke. This is it. This is what's been bugging him. This is why Asuka's and Unit-02's presence confused him so much. It wasn't that there was some inconsistency about her. It's an inconsistency in a bigger picture which her mere presence revealed.

"Asuka, please tell me, exactly, how we go from everyone in NERV HQ dying, to all of humanity dying."

"Well, erm… after everyone in NERV dies, we would have no more countermeasure against the Angel. I guess that afterwards, the Angel just multiplies and then hunts us down one by one?"

"Asuka, please. Try not to make stuff up. If you don't know, it's ok to say you don't know. How, exactly, do we go from everyone in NERV HQ dying to all of humanity dying?"

"Fine! Once everyone in NERV goes, we have no countermeasure against the Angel – and then…" The girl took a long pause. After a couple moments she continued "… and then I guess I don't know! They explode the world or something. Why does it matter? You and I will both be long dead by that point anyways."

"Thank you, Asuka, that's exactly what I needed," Shinji smiled as he concluded. Slowly, steadily, he turned towards Fuyutsuki – who was grinning like a madman.

"Well, there you go," said the boy. "Simply by seeing with fresh eyes, this level of reasoning is possible for Ikari Shinji. What do you think, Vice-commander Fuyutsuki Kozo?"

The world stood still, waiting for a response.

*clap* *clap* *clap*

"Well done, Shinji!" Fuyutsuki smiled as he clapped. "Well done! I certainly didn't expect you to figure it out like that. Well done indeed!"

"Shinji?" Asuka spoke. "What is going on? Why is the vice-commander clapping? Why do you have that look on your face?"

"It's elementary, Asuka," the Shinji responded. "Consider this situation, if you will. NERV HQ has been completed vaporized. Why would there be no countermeasure to the Angels?"

"That's because Evas are the only thing that can hurt them, and all the Evas and pilots would be dead!"

"So my follow up question is: where did you come from?"

"From Germany, of course. That's where I've been training before NERV-3 finished Unit-02. Why are you asking this, Shinji? Are you stupid or something?"

"Humor me, sweet. What is the destructive power of an Angel? Specifically, is it comparable to a 20th century atomic bomb or second impact?"

"No, of course not. Otherwise, they would've bombarded Tokyo-3 to dust, and we wouldn't have a chance."

"So what's stopping NERV Germany, NERV America, or any other NERV really, from finishing another production model Eva and finding a new pilot?"

And now, Asuka got it too.

"But… what if pilots are really rare? What if we're the only 3 pilots in the world?"

"Nonsense, Asuka. They're already building Unit-03 through 06, and last I checked we can't pilot more than one Eva at the same time. Do you think they're just going to let the new units sit and rot in the hangar?"

"But what if the Angels could killed off so many humans, it effectively wipes out our culture? Couldn't they kill 'humanity' by destroying so many of us we have no chance of ever recovering to stability?"

"Then they should be attacking India, or China, where there's an extremely high concentration of human. There's no reason they should be attacking us here in Tokyo-3, where our defense is strongest. And besides, humanity is tough. The Toba supereruption hypothesis suggested that our race has been reduced to less than 20,000 individual 70,000 years ago, and there's 3-billion of us now. Tokyo-3 isn't the center of the universe. There's no reason why our defeat here would wipe out the human race. Unless…"

"Unless it _is_ the center of the universe, and there's something here, some cosmic-keystone, which will wipe out humans if the Angel use it."

"Precisely," Shinji summarized. "How's that, commander Fuyutsuki? We've always assumed humanity would die if we lost here in Tokyo, but with Asuka and Unit-02, it's clear that even if Tokyo-3 was lost, humanity can mount a defense elsewhere. Unless, of course, there's something you're not telling us. Is there a connection missing that we don't know about?"

The vice-commander smiled as he retook his seat at the table.

"Well done, Children," Fuyutsuki started. "Everybody, please take a seat. Looks like I have another story to tell you tonight after all."

* * *

Akagi Ritsuko was going down. Down, down, down. Down all the way to Terminal Dogma – the deepest part of NERV HQ. Her mind was racing; theories, models, and hypothesis – an endless set of assumptions shot through her head and slowly computed.

The Angels. Why were they called Angels? If there were Angels, couldn't there be Demons too?

A.T. Field. What is the A.T. Field, really?

What about Magi? What about Eva? Why were they the only weapon capable of piercing the Angels defense? How, exactly, was the Eva being controlled? What did her mother really research? What did she learn?

How did she die?

Everything was jumbling through her mind right now. Nothing made sense. Nothing fits her model of the world. No explanation of reality worked. She can't seem to find a map which matches the territory

No explanation, except one.

And this one allowed a prediction.

Ritsuko sprinted towards the massive door before her. She's reached the deepest part of the organization, and behind this gate, behind this door, lies her answer. Swiping her ID across the card-reader, then scanning her biometric information, the head scientist stood as the locked door slowly disengaged and opened.

Before her was a massive cross, several stories high. Upon the cross was a white giant, bearing upon its face an alien metallic mask. A trail of orange colored liquid dripped down the cross, forming an immense pool surrounding the gargantuan colossus.

Ritsuko stared at the giant. More specifically, she stared at the object in its chest.

"Its… true…" the scientist finally spoke. "He he, I've figured it out. Ha ha ha. Now we are all sons of bitches! HahaHAHAHA!"

The soft sounds of footsteps approached her from behind. Ritsuko didn't even bother turning around.

"It's you," she spoke. "You've known all along, haven't you? How did you figure it out?"

"I've always known," Gendo responded. "I'm most impressed, Ritsuko, but like I said: I've always trusted you. If there was anyone who could work it out, it would be you. How much do you know?"

"Not everything yet, but I've got the big picture now." The scientist chuckled. "I'll fill in the rest soon enough."

"I was right to bring in Shinji, after all," Gendo continued. "What a catalyst he is, indeed."

"Seeing with fresh eyes… You're right." Ritsuko answered. "You're right again, as always. You know I can't keep quiet about this, right? My pride as a scientist compels me."

"Can I ask the woman in you to keep a secret?"

"On something like this? Believe me, dear, the woman in me will be shouting and screaming even louder than the scientist."

"So it goes, then. So it goes."

"Are you really ok with it? Doesn't this throw a huge monkey wrench in your plan?"

"It might, Ritsuko, it might. But there are always more plans. There are always contingencies. There is always a solution."

Ritsuko finally turned around, looking at the senior commander, the heartless father, and her secret lover. "Who are you?" she finally asked.

"I'm Ikari Gendo, of course." The man smiled – his glasses shining in the orange light. "I'm the supreme commander of NERV, and I'm the one who's going to save humanity."

* * *

_Looks like we're finally going to talk about the white giant! Lot's of back and forth again this chapter, so let the author know what you think. What could Gendo be planning?_


	9. Curiosity killed the cat

Gehirn was a secret organization established to study the newly discovered Adam, as well as foster any technological development to assist in, and deriving from, the reverse-engineering of said Alien entity. As a special organization nominally under the supervision of the United Nations, the operations of Gehirn was fundamentally spearheaded by Dr. Ikari and Dr. Akagi; whose contribution would lead to the successful development of the Magi Supercomputer, the Evangelion Anti-angel weaponry system, the colonization of Geofront, and the construction of Tokyo-3. Having previously used the Artificial Evolution Laboratory as a cover, Gehirn was eventually disbanded once all technological milestone was reached; only to be immediately reincorporated as NERV – absorbing the Artificial Evolution Laboratory in the process. Under the new banner, the organization enjoy unprecedented reach and virtually unlimited resource. The legacy of Gehirn lives on as the vanguard of mankind against the looming menace.

_- Classified Information File#0000012-C, item 05. "Gehirn: the NERV forerunner"; Security clearance level 3: Classified Information_

* * *

A.D. 2008

The room was warm. Even with the dedicated ventilation system whirring full blast, the array of servers kept Naoko Akagi's office at a toasty temperature. Cables ran amok throughout the room, vying against the pipes, crates and unopened boxes for a smidgeon of space. Ritsuko was hardly bothered by them though; she'd visited her mother often enough to know which part of the floor was safe to step on. Before her, Gehirn's Chief Scientist tapped away at her keyboard – the dozen surrounding monitors flashed an epileptic orange as charts, diagrams and graphs shot by at break neck speed.

"Pull up a chair," Naoko spoke. "I'll be done in a second."

Of course, Ritsuko knew that the only chair in the office was presently occupied. Naoko didn't usually invite guests into her sacred realm. Sighing, the new Gehirn employee grabbed a couple of boxes and made herself comfortable. A few seconds later, the orange screens turned black – leaving only the logo of the Artificial Evolution Lab as a screen server.

Naoko Akagi turned around and smiled. "Sorry about that, dear. Are you settling in alright?"

"Yes, thank you." Ritsuko replied. It's been a little over a week since she joined the organization. Most of that time was spent in the standardized orientation courses; but since she was joining Project E as her mother's immediate assistant, Ritsuko needed a little extra briefing.

"Good," Naoko continued. "Have you had a chance to look over the papers I sent you?"

"Only the abstracts, but it had nothing to do with controlled mutation or accelerated evolution. Souls? Mind-matter interface? Free will? Mother, what's going on? What are we doing here?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Ritsuko," the head scientist chuckled. "You know as well as I do that there's no such thing as a soul. Mind-matter interface is something you already do every day; it's just a fancy way of saying the brain controls the body. As for free will? Why do you believe you have free will in the first place?"

"Mother!"

"Hehe, sorry dear. It's not every day that I get to introduce somebody to Metaphysical Biology. You'll get used to it soon enough. So you want to know what it is we really do and why we do it?"

"Yes," Ritsuko shrugged, "it's become blatantly clear that the job description was a complete lie, and despite the number times I've visited you, I still don't know what it is your job _actually _entails."

Naoko took a drink from her coffee mug, before clearing her throat. "Ahem. Let's see… where should I begin? I guess second impact is a good place to start. Do you know what caused second impact?"

"No, I don't." Ritsuko knew about the meteor; but then again so did everybody else. There's no point for her mother to bring it up if that was the whole story.

"That's a good answer. In early 2000, a research team lead by Hideaki Katsuragi deduced the existence of an entity they called Adam. Narrowing down its location to a basin near Mt. Markham on Antarctica's Pacific coast, the Katsuragi expedition was dispatched to identify and analyze the Adam. Imagine their surprise when they discovered a massive humanoid buried beneath the ice! Its form and constitution was far beyond anything mankind has ever made."

"An alien? An alien caused second impact?!" Ritsuko gasped.

"Well, yes and no. The expedition determined that Adam was in a dormant state – like a hibernating bear or a computer with its power turned off. After months of study, it was proposed that Adam be reactivated – so that we might further understand the function and purpose of this alien entity. As you might imagine, the so called contact experiment was scheduled for September 13th."

"What? That's incredibly dangerous! How could they do something that reckless?"

"Well, they were running into a brick-wall at that point; and they had good reason to believe that – should anything dangerous happened – the experiment could be immediately terminated. You see, when they discovered Adam, they also found a large metallic bident-like device impaling it. The bident was determined to be a suppressor: a mechanism to immediately end any activity Adam might be doing. But…"

"But it didn't work?"

"No, it worked alright. It was because the suppressor worked that only the Southern Hemisphere of Earth was destroyed in the Second Impact. Had the suppressor – dubbed the Spear or Longinus by the way – actually failed, we wouldn't be having this conversation today."

"Wow… that's… wow…" Ritsuko stuttered. "So that's what happened. I almost wished the meteor theory wasn't a lie now. An alien that can blow up half of the world just by waking up? What happened to it?"

"Immediately after Second Impact? No one knows. By the time the U.N. had enough resources to send an investigation, it was the year 2002. Can't blame them though, the year after Second Impact was hell."

"I remember."

"Anyways, they discovered Adam had reverted back to its inert state. The Spear of Longinus, however, was presumably lost along with the continent of Antarctica. Left with no other choice, Adam was transported to the research institution that dispatched Dr. Katsuragi in the first place. A secret U.N. organization was immediately formed to take over the research institute, as well as any inquiry into the Alien colossus. You might be more familiar with the U.N. organization under its name: Gehirn."

"That's us, huh? Quite a bit of pressure." Ritsuko mused.

Suddenly, she stood up. All traces of blood seems to have drained from her face.

"Mother… you don't mean that Adam… is here… with no Spear to suppress it?"

Naoko chuckled. "Yes, dear. It's downstairs, in Terminal Dogma. Would you like to see it?"

"I… erm… ah…" Ritsuko stammered. "Yes! No! Wait! That's not what I'm saying! Mother! This is unbelievable dangerous! What is Adam doing here?! Why are we building a city on top of it?!"

"Relax, Ritsuko, relax," Naoko said. "There's no danger of Adam exploding again. It used up all of its energy in the first one. We're perfectly safe, even if the Spear of Longinus is sitting at the bottom of the Antarctica trench somewhere. Sit down, dear. We're getting to the part about why you're here."

Ritsuko sat back down on her crates. There had better be a seriously convincing reason behind all this.

"After Gehirn was formed, we got to work. After a year of non-stop investigation, we determined that Adam was something like a biological organism, even though it's not made from any kind of substance we've seen before. It had one and only one purpose, terraforming a planet into an ecosystem suitable for some alien race. Second Impact was Adam getting started."

"So that means Adam is just a tool, then? What do we know about this alien that put Adam here?"

"Not much, really. We know they were advanced enough to put Adam here on Earth, but it's impossible to say when or why. Perhaps they wanted to move in but somehow gave up? In any case, we learned that although Adam was inert now, it could potentially be reactivated. We discovered tissues that seems to function as a communications organ. It's reasonable to assume that when Adam activated, the organ was used to trigger secondary drones. Since Adam is out of energy with its first explosion, the time-delayed drones will either continue terraforming once the planet has stabilized, or if they found that the ecosystem hasn't been properly formatted…"

"They refuel Adam and start second impact again." Ritsuko completed her mother's sentence.

"Precisely. That's where we come in. There's 2 things we can do: either find a way to kill terraforming drones from an extremely advance alien civilization, or move 3-billion human off of this rock and go somewhere else. Guess which one we're choosing?"

"Why did ever mess with Adam in the first place?" Ritsuko facepalmed. "Why couldn't we leave well enough alone? Why did we have to open Pandora 's Box?"

"It's called the human spirit, dear," Naoko grinned. "It's curious, it's audacious and it's completely indomitable. Curiosity killed the cat, they say? Well they've never lived as free as a cat before. Despair isn't the only thing that came out of Pandora's Box, remember? There's also a butterfly of hope inside and the curious cat known as humanity have managed to seize it. Though Adam might be the agent of our destruction, within the alien husk is the seed of our salvation as well. That's what Gehirn has been doing for the past 6 years. We're developing several advance technologies which should give us a fighting chance against the alien threat. As my direct assistant, you'll be playing a vital role in humanity's survival as well. And who knows? After we make it through these drones, we might be able to use our new-found technology to reach greater heights than ever before. Ritsuko, listen to me carefully now. There's going to be some dark days ahead of us, but always remember this: to the rest of humanity – you, me and everybody in Gehirn is a butterfly of hope; fighting to preserve that indomitable human spirit."

Ritsuko looked up at her mother – the glowing array of monitors behind her seemed to lend the woman an air of single-minded determination.

"The weapon system derived from Adam is the synthetic life form we're calling Evangelion. My ex-colleague laid down the framework for their conception. She was a peerless genius, but sadly passed away 5-years ago. Oh how geniuses always die so young! The Project E that you're officially joining is her legacy, but you'll also be working with me to develop Magi and the control interface as well. That's why you're here. That's the true purpose of Gehirn. Any questions?"

Ritsuko stared that her mother, the brilliant scientist, the undefeatable woman. After a long pause, she finally spoke up.

"Yes, mother, just one. Is that all?"

Naoko smiled. "Very good, my daughter. I was right to name you my assistant after all. Come, let me show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."

* * *

A.D. 2015

"…That's why you're here. That's the true purpose of NERV. Any questions?"

Shinji stared at Fuyutsuki, the second commander of NERV, and one of the few men who had been there since the beginning. They'd left the dining room when Fuyutsuki offered to show them Adam. Now Shinji, Rei, Asuka, Misato and Kaji – as well as the second commander – was on an elevator going down towards… somewhere. After a long pause, Shinji finally spoke up.

"Yes, commander, just one. Is that all?"

Fuyutsuki smiled. "I don't know, Shinji. You tell me if you think that's all. No footage of the second impact exist. The Gehirn research paper are all highly classified, since the potential to abuse them as a weapon is something we take very seriously. Besides, telling the public about aliens is an information hazard – just by knowing it, people are bound to do something stupid. That's why we kept these information close to our heart. It's as much to protect us as it is to protect everyone else. You can believe me if you like, or not."

By now the elevator had reached its destination, and the party began walking down a massive underground cavern – dark except for a line of orange light leading the way. After a couple minutes, they arrived before a towering door. Fuyutsuki moved towards the gate control panel and began entering a combination of codes.

"I know asking you to trust me is pointless," Fuyutsuki spoke as he worked. "You already don't, and insisting on my honesty will merely cause you to doubt me even more. But think about it this way: if I was lying, would you do anything differently? You'd still have to fight the Angel, NERV would still fight for mankind, and Evangelions would still be a preposterously advance piece of technology. I'm refusing to show you any concrete proof not out of malice, but because it is beyond my power to do so. I'd tell you to ask someone who was present for the Adam contact experiment, but I have no idea where you'd find one and, even if you did, you have no guarantee that NERV wasn't forcing them to be quiet. That said, you're probably going to try anyways, right?"

Shinji didn't reply. He didn't expect anybody to survive the contact experiment but now that Fuyutsuki suggested the possibility – whether intentionally or not – he wasn't going to let it slide.

Behind the boy, Misato shuffled nervously.

"Well, that's the situation, Shinji," Fuyutsuki finally continued. "You don't know if I'm telling the truth, and you'll need to exert considerable effort to figure out either way. But if I was lying, why would I tell you so much classified information?"

The old man swiped a magnetic card through a reader. With a groan, the locked door disengaged and opened.

"Why would I show you this?"

The party gasped at the sight behind the door. Before them was a massive cross, several stories high. Upon the cross was a white giant, bearing upon its face an alien metallic mask. A trail of orange colored liquid dripped down the cross, forming an immense pool surrounding the gargantuan colossus.

"Eva? No-" Misato stammered. "Impossible…"

"Yes, Major Katsuragi. It is as you see," Fuyutsuki spoke. "This is Adam, the first Angel, and the source of all our misery since September 2000. No Angel may ever make it to this room, for if it merges with Adam and provides the necessary fuel, we are doomed to relive the Second Impact all over again."

Asuka stared at the pale colossus and, after clearing her throat, finally spoke up. "Why does it look like that? Why does it have a mask? What are those legs?"

"I won't even pretend to know," Fuyutsuki answered. "It's an alien. How am I supposed to know why terraforming machine looks the way it does?"

"What's that thing poking out of its chest? Is it what I think it is?" Shinji chimed in.

"If you're thinking that's the Spear of Longinus," Fuyutsuki answered, "then you are correct. It stops the Adam from activating, so Tokyo-3 doesn't spontaneously explode from under our feet. And before you ask, no – the suppressor won't be enough to save us if an Angel manages to merge with Adam. We might be able to contain the blast to something comparable to the year 2000, but since Japan is on top of the Ring of Fire, the earth is doomed if another impact occurs here anyways."

"Well that's awfully silly. Why didn't you put it somewhere else, then?"

"We didn't know any better when it got here; and as you can see it's too late now. NERV HQ was built to be an impenetrable fortress centered on the Adam, which means Adam is impossible to move from here as well. We could, of course, try activating the Adam ourselves. That should be enough to return the Angel to the state when we moved it in. Transportation should be trivial at that point."

Fuyutsuki turned around and saw Shinji, Asuka and Misato glaring at him in horror. "I was joking," the second commander finally said.

"Why can't you just destroy the Adam?" Asuka questioned. "Wouldn't that foil the Angel before they even start?"

"We've tried," Fuyutsuki responded, "but as you might imagine, the Adam also has an A.T. Field: the strongest one we've ever seen, in fact. It did, after all, survive in the epicenter of the Second Impact with nary a scratch. We could try to use an Eva to neutralize the field, now that we know conventional weapons work, but I don't imagine all the generators in Japan will be enough to power a sufficient negation field."

"Why's it bleeding?" Kaji, who had kept to himself all this time, finally spoke out.

"Ah… good question!" Fuyutsuki replied. "It just does. We don't know why. It doesn't look like there's a wound on it or anything. Despite the appearance, the pins holding up the Adam doesn't actually puncture its skin. It just sort of passes through, but aliens are weird like that. Be thankful that it's bleeding, though; that's where our secret sauce comes from. Go ahead, Children, take a closer look. Don't be scared. It's perfectly harmless."

Shinji, Asuka and Rei steps up to the edge of the pool. Kneeling down, the boy took a closer look at the strange liquid. The orange color reminded him of Tang, but much more viscous. Plunging his finger into the pool, Shinji lifted a sliver of liquid to his nose and took a sniff.

Smells metallic, like blood.

"Except for the color, it looks like regular old blood to me," Shinji remarked. "Perhaps it has hemoglobin just like us? That'll explain the metallic smell. I have no idea what makes it orange, though. Asuka, what do you think?"

"…orange… blood… LCL… in the Eva…" the girl muttered.

Shinji turned around and saw that his friend had frozen solid. Color rapidly drained from her face. It looks like she just took a sniff of the blood as well.

Far beneath Tokyo-3, several stories below the Geofront, in a hollowed cavern filled with mysterious orange fluids, the shrill scream of a girl echoed forth. Who knows what sordid spectacle she saw?

* * *

Around a dark meeting table, the U.N. Security Council gathered to discuss their latest exploits. Before them sat Gendo Ikari, an ominous glow illuminated the commander from below. It's been a little more than a week since the previous Angel attack, and the fact that Gendo was away until now meant the council was long overdue for an update.

"… and that is where we presently stand," Gendo finished his report. "I promised a convincing defeat of the Angel – I hope you're satisfied."

"Very good, indeed," said the representative from the UK, "but as always, we must be concerned with the path forward."

"The production of Unit 03 through 06 is proceeding as you requested," the representative from France chimed in. "Our engineers are converting the mass-production process as well, although I guess they're the IPEA's engineer now."

"How goes the pilot selection?" said the U.S. "Has an American pilot been selected this time?"

"It looks like Marduk's latest choice is, again, Japanese." Gendo answered. "There's no need to be concern, though. The operation of NERV transcends national boundary and encompasses humanity as a whole. The concept of nationality is pointless when it comes to our pilot."

"However, it is still highly suspect, Gendo." Russia spoke up. "The population of Japan is miniscule compared to the world. If Marduk's selection were truly Random, we should expect a more representative sample, right? Why has all 4 children selected so far been Japanese?"

"Yes, Gendo," said America again. "The U.S. has pre-screened several pilots who would make excellent candidates as well. Why are they not being considered?"

Gendo cleared his throat. The old men were always trying to find fault with him. "You gentlemen seem to misunderstand something about Marduk. Why are you assuming the selection will be random? Were it random, we would be buried in pilots already. It is clear that Marduk's criterion is highly non-random; the fact that most pilots chosen so far has been Japanese must mean that there exist some correlation between environment and Eva compatibility. Even if the criterion was truly random, having the first few candidates from the same nation is hardly suspect. Besides, have you forgotten that the second children is German-American?"

"Three quarters German-American," Keel Lorenz retorted, "and a quarter Japanese. Gendo, we understand that Marduk uses its own parameter to search for candidates – but can you honestly say that there's no communication between them and NERV?"

"Of course there is," Gendo replied. "We have to tell them when we need new pilots, and they need to tell us how to configure the Eva. If I told you we had no communications, I would be lying. In fact, I would be lying as well if I said we weren't working together. Our ultimate loyalty is, after all, towards the human race. Vanquishing the Angel is our mutual prime objective."

The Security Council was silent, as though they were probing Gendo's word for any falsehood. After a long pause, Keel finally spoke up.

"Let us remind you, Gendo, that our prime objective is the Human Instrumentality Project. Vanquishing the Angel is only an intermediate goal. Do not ever forget that."

"Indeed," France chimed in, "only through instrumentality can humanity transcend above pain and suffering. Always remember that we work towards the salvation of mankind."

"Good work so far," said the U.K. "Carry on, and know that you have SELEE and the U.N.'s support."

With that, the meeting concluded. As the holo-images fade and ambience returned to Gendo's office, the sound of heels clicking rang out from behind the senior commander.

"SELEE and the U.N.?" Ritsuko asked. "What redundancy. Aren't they one and the same?"

"For all intent and purpose, yes," Gendo answered. "But the devil is, of course, in the detail."

Ritsuko sat down on the corner of Gendo's desk. "Do you think they suspect something?"

"Of course, Ritsuko. It is their job to suspect. Even if I told them the truth, they would still pick it apart for any inconsistency. That's why I fed them that part about the prime objective. They needed to correct me on something before I'm allowed to go."

"You can fool everybody sometimes," Ritsuko mused, "and you can fool somebody every time. But you can't fool everybody every time."

"I'm well aware of that. It's just a question of fooling everybody for long enough. But enough of this – let me worry about SELEE. There was something you wanted from me?"

"Yes," Ritsuko held out her hand. "Hand over the key."

Gendo smiled as he reached for a drawer under his desk. Withdrawing a metallic duralumin case, the commander began to undo the clasp on the box.

"I'm only giving you this," Gendo said as he lifted the case lid, "because I trust you, Ritsuko. You know there's nobody else I'd ever lend the Key of Nebuchadnezzar to."

The box opened to reveal a strange amber-like block surrounding an ornate key-like device. From one end, a trace of what resembles the human nervous system etches out the interior of the amber block.

Ritsuko stared at the device. After a long pause, she closes the case and redid the clasps.

"Don't give me none of that trust nonsense." The head scientist said as she picked up the case. "I know you're only lending this to me because it suites your plan. Well then, I best get going. Mind keeping Shinji and Rei company tonight instead of me? I'm going to be pretty busy with my new toy."

"I'll make sure they're taken care of."

And with that, Ritsuko started for the exit. The office door closed on the solitary commander, smiling thinly behind his clasped hand.

* * *

The vending machine rattled as the second can of cola tumbled out. Bending down, Shinji grabbed the soft drinks before returning to his suitemate. The break room was brightly lit, and Rei sat patiently on one of the many benches strewn about. Fuyutsuki had long excused himself, and Asuka had gone home with Kaji already. Misato, too, had vanished off somewhere. With no easy way to get home this late at night, Shinji had suggested to Rei that they wait around in case Ritsuko can give them a ride. Either their guardian settles her emergency and the children gets to go home, or she doesn't and they get to stay in the relaxation vaults. Regardless, there's little that they could do right now except wait about.

"Here," Shinji said as he handed the girl a cola. "Drink something normal for once. I always see you with that NERV juice thing. Must be pretty good if you like it so much. Mind if I try some the next time you have it?"

After a moment's contemplation, Rei took the can of soft drink. Cracking his own open, Shinji took a seat next to the pale blue girl.

"That was something, eh? Who'd have thought aliens were real. Of course, the fact that they want to kill us all is not so nice, but still! Not only did humanity manage to subdue Adam, but we're deriving it into a weapon to defend ourselves! Imagine what we could do once we beat down all the Angels. We've already figured out a biological-supercomputer, and a nigh-perfect force field. Perhaps if we figure out how the Angels power source, the stars might not be beyond reach after all."

Rei stared blankly at Shinji. After a sip from her can, the girl responded with a question.

"Huh? Why do we want to reach the stars?" Shinji replied. The boy had gotten used to the fact that, whenever he conversed with Rei, he'll be doing most of the talking. "Well, I don't know. For curiosity sake, I guess? I mean, look at the Angels; they're clearly mindless drones, but whatever made them must've been a magnificent civilization. Don't you wonder what they're like? Maybe if we met them on different terms, we could actually establish a connection!"

Following the train of thought, the blue girl pressed with another question.

"I guess we'd want to connect for the same reason we connect with the world, or with each other." Shinji answered. "I mean, why do humans congregate? If you look at other apex predators in the world, say hawks or tigers or sharks. They're all stronger, faster or sneakier than humans. But they don't rule the world, we do! Individually, humans are weak. But once we start forming societies, once we start forming connections, our powers multiply. Remember what I told you about the self? Well, if you want to become stronger, if you want to reach new heights, then you need to multiply your own force."

A puzzling frown began to creep across Rei, but Shinji continued regardless.

"At the most fundamental level, we're all selfish – remember? So what do we do when we want more? What do we do when our own strength isn't enough? We use other people, of course – but here's the thing: everybody knows this, so everybody uses everyone else as well. I'm using you, because you fight in the Eva for me. You're using me, because I introduced you to Toji, Kensuke and Hikari. The same goes with Ritsuko, Asuka, Commander Fuyutsuki and everybody else. We all use each other, and this becomes our connection. The connection multiplies our strength, so not only can I do more, everyone else with a connection to me can as well. When the web of connections gets tangled enough, we call it a society. Does that kind of make sense?"

Rei pondered for a moment, then finally nodded.

"Anyways, that's why we'd want to connect with an advance alien race," Shinji concluded. "We can use them to become greater, and hopefully they can connect with us too. You know, you should talk more. That way, you'll make some connections of your own as well. Maybe start with Asuka? She's still somewhat new here, so you might be able to befriend her relatively easily. Hikari's the only other girl I've seen talk to her, but she obviously can't come into NERV. A boisterous girl like that has to get lonely sometimes too, right?"

Shinji finished the last of his cola. Spotting a recycling bin, the boy stood up and took aim.

*Clang*  
Three points.

"Speaking of which, did you see her face down in Terminal Dogma? I can't believe she got so upset about the LCL. I mean, you were swimming in that stuff in Unit-01 too, right? But you don't seem too bothered by it. Fuyutsuki was right, though, it's some special sauce indeed. Do you think he was lying about Adam? Everything seems to fit very nicely – almost too nicely. But I guess that's what you expect from a good lie: it's smooth around the edge and, in a given circumstance, you end up doing the optimal thing anyways. I wonder if there's really any survivor from the contact experiment. It'll be interesting to get a firsthand account. Maybe I should check the NERV database? I'm sure the organization keeps them on a tight lease."

At that moment, Misato walked into the break room.

"Ah, there you are!" Misato said. "Ritzy's working late again, so she asked me to drive you two home for the night. I had a feeling I'd need to play chauffeur one of these days, so you two should be thankful I cleaned my car! Hey, Shinji, do you think I'm psychic?"

Shinji gave a light chuckle. "Only when it's to do with Eva."

"Aw, that's not cool at all!" Misato grumbled. "At least say I'm psychic about love. Don't you understand anything about romance? Anyways, let's get going. It's getting late already and you two have school tomorrow."

As the two Children followed Misato out, relieved that a hectic day had finally come to an end, it suddenly dawned on Shinji that he'd forgotten something. _Am I missing something?_ He wondered. _Maybe there's something I learned tonight that needs a follow up? I'm sure there was something I'd put off for later. What could it be?_

_Was it about Adam? No. Doesn't seem like it_.

_Was it something from the dinner then? Ritsuko? Asuka? Or perhaps it was..?_

_Oh._

"Misato," Shinji said, grabbing a small paper card from his pocket. "Do you mind if I take a moment? There's something I need to do before I leave."

* * *

"Ow!"

"Hey!"

"Watch where you're going, you bozo."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's just so dark in here!"

"Can't you sit still and wait like the rest of us?"

"But it's been three hours! It's cold and my legs hurt."

"Just be patient. He can't take much longer now."

"Why do we have to wear these things anyways? We can take them off once this is over, right?"

"The commander said so, that's why. And why would you want to take them off? For once, your appearance matches your mental age."

"Aw, you meanie. Why are you always so terrible to-"

"Shoosh. Be quiet. Someone's coming."

"Do you remember what you have to do?"

"Yes! Yes!"

"Ok. Get ready now. Here he comes."

* * *

Shinji stopped before a non-distinct room, before glancing back down at the card he got from Fuyutsuki. Bunnies? Three of them? It's about the most non-sequitur-ish thing he could think of, especially since the man had just essentially threatened him a couple sentences beforehand. From another perspective, however, it was completely characteristic of his dad. The crazy old man was probably doing this just to rub salt in his wounds. It's probably going to be a bunch of stuffed animals with a biting note telling him to play with something more age appropriate.

Or they could be real bunnies. Can't put it pass the mad bastard. Shinji didn't know if he could take care of them if they were real. He had a pet rock once. It died.

Goddammit. He'll show him. If they're real, Shinji was going to make sure they have so many babies, his father will drown in them. Or something.

The automatic door in front of him slid open to reveal… a dark room no different from any other on this corridor. Shinji checked the card again; looks like the right place. Oh well, might as well look around. If his dad was trolling him, the least he could do was enjoy the punch line.

As soon as he stepped in, however, the room suddenly lit up. In the middle of the floor was three humongous gift-boxes; each bounded in bunny motif wrapping paper.

_Ok_, said his brain_, not quite what we expected_.

Shinji walked up to the middle box and, hesitantly, stretched out his hands to touch it. Knowing his dad, it's probably going to explode and shock him or something.

His fingers made contact.

*Pop*

The three box exploded in a cloud of smoke and confetti. Even knowing it was coming, Shinji still leapt backward a good three meters. Through the smoke, Shinji can make out three something where the boxes used to be. The veil slowly parted to reveal…

The smoke parted to reveal three female NERV employees saluting. Each wore their uniform and, in addition, an animal ear hairband on their head.

"Evenings, sir! My name is Satsuki Ooi. Nya!" said the blond girl wearing cat ears.

"Evenings, sir! My name is Kaede Agano. Wan!" said the brunette wearing dog ears.

"Evenings, sir! My name is Aoi Mogami. Nihihi!" said the black haired girl wearing rabbit ears.

"Per orders of the senior commander, we have been assigned to you as a special commision from this moment forward. Please take good care of us!" The three girls said together.

Shinji blink. He squinted. He rubbed his eyes.

"Er… what… my dad… he said there'd be three bunnies."

"Did you hear that, Aoi?" said Kaede, turning towards the black-haired girl. "He says he likes your costume the most."

"And what kind of rabbit sound was that?" Satsuki chimed in. "'Nihihi'? In what world does a bunny sound like that?"

"Knock it off girls," Aoi quipped, "looks like our new superior is a little confused. You two clowns care to explain to him what's going on?"

"What's there to be confused about?" Satsuki retorts. "What did he say he was expecting?"

"Bunnies!" said Kaede enthusiastically.

"And where do we usually work?" Satsuki continued.

"In the command center!" Kaede's ear almost looks like it was wagging.

"Put two and two together and you get?"

"Bridge bunnies!" Kaede yells, but then immediately slumps into despair. "Aw, the senior commander is so mean. Why'd he have to call us that?"

"The commander can call us what he wants," Aoi said. "And shape up! We need to give our new superior a good impression."

The three girls turned back to Shinji and saluted again.

"We're assigned to provide you with any intelligence, communication or secretarial aid you may need," Satsuki spoke. "We also have experience relating to the Magi, the Eva and other confidential information."

"This is a special assignment from the senior commander, so we are at your disposal without restrictions," said Aoi. "Please call for our service whenever you require them. We are in your care."

Shinji stared at the girls.

After a long pause, he did a 180 and started for the exit.

"I don't know what to say," the boy said to himself. "I must have shed the last of my sanity. My dad gave me command of a cosplay brigade? Goddammit!"

"Wait!" Kaede shouted.

"Our apologies sir!" Aoi chimed in, pointing at her ears. "We're wearing these per the senior commander's order!"

"Permission to remove them, sir!" Satsuki saluted.

"No!" Shinji snapped as he glanced back at his three subordinates. "You may not remove them! In fact, I expect to see them every time I come into NERV from now on. Do I make myself clear?"

With that, Shinji crossed the threshold of the room and left. A few seconds later, the lights switched off and the automatic door slide shut, leaving the three speechless bridge bunnies in utter darkness.

* * *

_Bunnies! The author tells me that he likes bunnies. He also said that there's hardly any material on the three bunny girl's canonical personality. They're like blank slates, so he put in a thin sheen of character as might be appropriate from their appearance. Don't like what you're seeing? Give my author a piece of your mind!_


	10. 100 times the local speed of sound

Development of Antimatter weaponry has seen limited success since the days of second impact. While production and containment of Antimatter continues to be a significant challenge, a process called Antimatter catalyzed nuclear pulse propulsion – originally conceived as a means of triggering fission in subcritical spacecraft fuel – has successfully been converted to power miniscule-sized atomic explosions. Though the technology is in its infancy, its potential as a compact, extremely energy dense material has spurred research in both civil and military fields alike. We propose the use of captured positrons as a seed, allowing on-site production of anti-proton for the catalyzed nuclear fission process. Possible application of the technique includes an autonomous artillery platform capable of launching projectiles at up to 1 Terra-Joules muzzle energy with no external intervention…

_- Classified Information File#0000020-B, item 60. "Abstract from 'Automated Positron Rifle: a proof of concept'"; Security clearance level 2: Internally Disclosed Information_

* * *

Asuka sat patiently in her entry plug; the scent of LCL filling her lungs. She had expected the discovery that LCL was, in fact, alien blood – and that she was submerged in the thing – to have a more profound impact on her psyche. It's surprising how much the human brain can wave aside as normal, especially if nothing is observationally different. Sure, the _idea_ of swimming in a mysterious fluid of extraterrestrial origin was strange and upsetting and probably very dangerous – if Asuka thought about it seriously. But she had been doing it for months by now, and even though her brain fully comprehended the idea, it wasn't triggering any alarm on an instinctual level. On the contrary, she had always felt oddly secure and restful in Unit-02's cockpit.

A bubble escaped upwards as Asuka exhaled a deep breath – not that it was necessary in her present condition. LCL was extremely permeable to both Oxygen and Carbon dioxide, so much so that any concentration gradient equalizes nigh-instantaneously, like heat differences in a superfluid. Consequently a pilot could 'hold their breath' forever if they wanted to. As long as the life-support system was functional, the LCL will equalize through the nose so blood CO2 concentration never gets high enough to trigger breathing urges.

Despite that, Asuka never did understood how she could vocalize while submerged. It shouldn't be possible to speak with her vocal cords inundated in a fluid. But she was controlling the Eva by direct neural interface anyways. Surely the same computer was detecting her intentions to speak and articulating for her?

"Commencing initialization sequence," Asuka _spoke_ into the comm system. "Are we going to make it in time?"

"The Angel is expected to make landfall in Tokyo-3 in 22 minutes," Misato's voice answered. "We have the UN's pacific fleet to thank for the early warning."

Asuka closed her eyes. The scramble order came in about an hour after Kaji dropped her off at school. The illusive man claimed he had some appointment up in Tokyo-2, and wanted to send off his protégé properly before leaving town for a few days.

_A downright shame he's not here to watch_, the second children thought, _I would've given him a show worth remembering_.

"How's wonder girl and idiot-Shinji doing?" Asuka asked, "They won't be getting in my way, right?"

"You have the highest sync ratio right now," Misato replied, "so you'll be taking point while Rei provides primary support. As for Shinji, Unit-01 hasn't completed repairs yet."

"Still useless then," the pilot chuckled. "Oh well, guess it's up to me again. Why do we even keep that stupid idiot around anyways? He's riding on my coat-tail and it's pulling me down."

"Just focus on your job, Asuka. We'll launch as soon as Ritsuko gets here."

* * *

Maya Ibuki rounded a corner as she approached the senior scientist's office. It was highly unusual for her mentor to be late; she's usually the image of timeliness. Whatever it was Ritsuko was up to last night must've been exceptionally draining…

"Dr. Akagi!" the operator finally arrived at the office door and began knocking. "Dr. Akagi, the new Angel is expected to make landfall in 20 minutes. Please come to the command center immediately!"

Silence.

"Are you there, Dr. Akagi?"

No response from behind the door.

"Dr. Akagi, please answer me!" Maya shouted. "It's an emergency! Please!"

Nothing.

"Dr. Akagi, are you ok?" the operator was beginning to get anxious. "I'm coming in. Please excuse me!"

Maya grabbed her ID card from her pocket. She was about to slide it through the card reader when suddenly-

"Wait!" a voice shouted from behind the door.

Maya took a step back. A few seconds later, the office door slid open and out came Ritsuko Akagi; looking pale and puffy around the eyes. The chief scientist crossed the threshold and immediately locked her room behind her.

"Sorry about that," Ritsuko said as she adjusted her coat. "I seem to have completely lost track of time. A new Angel, you said? Let's go see how bad it looks."

* * *

As Shinji stepped onto the command deck, he quickly took note of the octahedral Angel on the screen. The chief of operations was shouting commands from behind the main operators, while the senior commander sat smugly in his box. "Where's Ritsuko?" the boy inquired as he approached Misato, "and what the hell is going on here?"

"Ritsuko's running late," Misato answered, "Maya's already gone to get her. As for those three? Well, I've been wondering about that myself. They claim they're with you. Care to explain?"

Behind the three main operators, just in front of the tall metallic bulwark, a collapsible table with 3 laptop computers had been set up. Behind the makeshift workstation, adjusting their chairs and doing cable management, 3 female NERV technicians wearing animal-ear hairbands busied around with their information tech.

Aoi Mogami was the first to notice Shinji's arrival. After a quick nudge at her two friends, Shinji's personal bunny brigade stood at attention before the boy.

"Good morning, sir!" the three bridge bunnies saluted. "We should be ready to go any moment, now."

"Errm…Ok." Shinji eyed the girls suspiciously. "Very good. You're performing your job splendidly. Now, if you don't mind me asking, care to explain what exactly it is that you're doing again?"

"Yes sir," Satsuki Ooi replied, chuckling at her friends. "Per instructions of the senior commander, we are to provide direct operational support for the third children, Master Shinji Ikari. We were told to set up somewhere you could talk to us directly. We hope our presence is not too great an inconvenience."

"Yes, you are." Misato interjected. The chief of operation gestured around the command deck, indicating that space had become a much more precious commodity now that 3 additional operators were set up. "Do you girls really have to be up here? Don't you have your usual workstation?"

"Our apologies, ma'am," Kaede answered. "We're usually on the Magi level, but since Master Shinji would actually be in _everybody else's_ way if he hovered around us down there, we decided to set up here instead."

"Our computers are connected to the Magi anyways," Aoi chimed in as she pointed at the three laptops. "So in essence there's no difference for us whether we're up here or down there. Further, by setting up here we can collaborate with the main operators directly as well. Again, we ask that you pardon our intrusion."

_What the hell?_ Shinji took a step back as he pondered the latest situation _I thought father was fooling around last night, but now he's just being downright idiotic. Why would Gendo legitimatize my authority when it comes to Eva operations? Commanding 3 experts on Eva, Magi and internal logistics pretty much puts me in the best starting position I could possibly be in for our game. I should be screaming with delight at the amount of damage I can wreak right now._

Shinji stole a quick glance at Gendo. _Or perhaps I'm playing right into the palm of his hands? Are these girls really all they claim to be?_

The sound of approaching footsteps, snapping Shinji out of his reverie, heralded the arrival of Ritsuko and Maya. Spotting the new operators, Ritsuko sighed. "You three… I don't even want to know."

"You know them?" Misato asked.

"Yes. They were working for me until 2-days ago. Should've known I hadn't seen the last of them."

"Chief Ritsuko," Satsuki started, "it's good to see you again, ma'am. We're just-"

"I don't want to know," Ritsuko cut her off. "Gendo's orders. Got it."

Misato smiled as she watched her colleague. "I understand this is another one of Gendo's whimsy, so I don't mind as long as you girls behave. However, keep in mind that Makoto, Shigeru and Maya are the primary operators for all Eva and NERV operation. Neither you nor Shinji have any authority here – I don't want you calling an N2 at the first sign of trouble. Is that clear?"

_Wait_, Shinji did a double take, _the cosplay brigade knows how to call a what?!_

"Understood, ma'am" the three girls saluted.

"Now then, someone care to give me a sitrep?" Ritsuko turned to face the main screen. "That's really our latest Angel, right?"

"Blood pattern: Blue," Makoto answered. "It's definitely an Angel."

"We know nothing about its attack or defense, but it seems to be slower than the previous one," Kaede grinned. "It's also blue with eight shiny faces, and probably sings contralto."

"What makes you say that?" Satsuki snapped at her colleague, "Sounds like a baseless assumption to me."

"Give it a rest, you girls," Shigeru sniggered. "Major Katsuragi, how are we engaging the Angel?"

"Hmm," Misato pondered, "We should play it safe for now. Since we don't know the enemy's capability, we should leverage the two Evas we have and overwhelm them through pure logistics. Deploy them carefully; there's no need to take unnecessary risks while we're ahead."

"Do we have any artillery support this time?" Shinji asked.

"The JSSDF are still recovering from their rout last week," Shigeru responded. "We can call in airstrikes from Atsugi base, but that's all they're willing to commit."

"Guess we're on our own then," Misato said. "Oh well. The Evas are meant to be a standalone weapons platform after all. Now that we're all here, let's begin interception sequence. Asuka, Rei, are you ready?"

The big screen cuts to an image of the Eva cage. The two pilots respond affirmatively.

"Releasing primary locks," Makoto announced. "Secondary restrains lifted. Unit-00 and 02 are ready to sortie."

Misato looked at the two pilots before glancing back at the Angel. "Launch!"

* * *

The extra G-Force slammed Asuka into the back of her seat. The tunnels and floors flew by as Eva-02 shot up the deployment elevator. As much bravado as she was showing off earlier, Asuka was anxious to have her first real fight against an Angel. _The last one didn't count_, the girl mused, _they'd beaten it within an inch of its life already. All I had to do was deliver the coup de gr__â__ce. This time, though, this time I have to be ready. Best be prepare for anything._

Asuka projected a small defensive A.T. field around her, just in case the enemy decides to strike first. Looking aside, the second children noticed Unit-00 flying up a shaft parallel to her as well. "Don't get in my way, wonder girl!" Asuka said to her colleage. Rei, ever the cool emotionless girl, naturally did not reply.

"Major, a massive flux of energy has been detected in the Angel!" Makoto's voice buzzed over the telecom.

"Asuka, the Angel seems to be preparing for an attack." Misato yelled. "Brace yourself!"

The girl didn't need to be told twice. "A.T. Field, max power!"

Unit-02 cleared ground level and deployed directly in front of the Angel.

Immediately, a blast of incredible energy shatters Asuka's defense. The front plate of Unit-02 begins to boil, and the feedback response starts cooking the pilot in her entry plug.

The scream of a teenage girl blotted out every radio channel. The main command screen was blinded in a burst of light.

"Rei!" a sudden urgent tone echoed through Misato's voice, "Stop that attack, now! Save her!"

Unit-00 broke out into a sprint and, stopping a few paces behind Unit-02, deployed its A.T. field at full capacity. The energy beam wavered for a brief moment before dissipating.

"New burst of flux from within the Angel," Makoto relayed. "It's gearing up for round two!"

"Your defenses!" Misato shouted. "The Angel isn't done yet!"

The octahedral Angel shifted and danced, morphing from one geometrical shape to another. Finally, taking the form of a pylon, it fired off another ray of energy. Rei's A.T. field evaporate like smoke, and the two Evas plunge into the wave of destruction.

"Retreat," Ritsuko yelled. "Get them out of there now!"

"No response from the launch pad," panic dripped from Maya's voice, "our electronics are fried. The deployment lift has welded shut!"

"Blow them open then!" Shinji roared, "Bring down the whole block if you have to. Just get them out of there!"

The boy turned around to his operators. "What are you waiting for? Do it now!"

"Yes sir," the three girls said. A flutter of key presses, and a series of explosion rang out as the structural support for Tokyo-3 section theta detonates. With no further integrity backup, the entire block begins sliding downward into a subterranean level, leaving a massive rectangular hole in the face of the city.

"Get the Evas back in the cage," Misato said, "and get the pilots to ER immediately. Makoto, I'm going to check on our pilots."

"And I'm going to go check on repairs," Ritsuko echoed her. "Evacuate the civilians, and see to our defenses. As of this moment, we're under siege."

As the two chiefs ran off to their respective destination, Shinji walked up to the three main operator. "Organize a scouting party," the boy said, "and tell them to figure out what kind of capacity our new enemy has. It looks like the damn alien has finally up the ante."

* * *

In a dimly lit meeting room, the commanding officers of NERV gathered round to discuss their latest situation.

"How are the Evas looking?" Misato started. "Is Rei and Asuka doing alright?"

"The second children just stabilized about an hour ago," Maya replied. "She's out of the ER, and we expect her to regain consciousness by tonight. Rei is in good conditions. No major injury to body or psyche."

"We're lucky with Unit-02," Kaede chimed in. "The frontal plate armor has completely melted, but the central control unit is intact. Three more seconds and it would've punctured a hole straight through the Eva. Unit-00 is in good condition, in comparison. Repairs are speeding along on both; we estimate that restoration to functional level will be achieved in 3-hours or so."

"Just functional?" Shinji asked. "So Unit-02 won't be able to reengage in melee combat, right?

"Yes sir."

"My word," Misato groaned. "So what's the status of the Angel now?"

"Our scout report that the enemy has taken up position directly above the Geofront's Zenith," Shigeru answered. "It seems to have deployed a drill like appendage, and has begun burrowing down towards us. We expect it to penetrate all 22 layers of the Geofront's plate armor by 24:00 hours tonight."

"What about its arsenal," Ritsuko asked. "Any insight into its defense and weaponry?"

"The enemy uses its A.T. field to contain a fusion reaction," Maya responded. "The energy is used to power a directed energy beam attack – a wave-motion cannon capable of punching through battleship armor in 5.5 seconds. The enemy immediately detects any threat within a 1,000 meter radius; even those burrowing up towards it from underground. Upon obtaining line of sight, the Angel responds with devastating firepower. It also counterattacks against any threat beyond its detection range so, as of right now, we don't know if the wave-motion cannon has a maximal effective range."

"The A.T. field itself is also incredible," Aoi continued. "The Angel maintains the strongest field we've ever seen, capable of neutralizing those of our Evangelion while maintaining its own. I'm afraid the enemy's output is several times above our maximal power supply."

"No need to take unnecessary risk while it's ahead, eh?" Shinji quipped. "I guess the Angel took the maxim to heart. Slowly crush us with overwhelming power and defense. A meticulous fortress of doom."

"We're not completely doomed yet," Misato finally spoke. "The Angel doesn't auto-attack beyond 1 kilometer unless it's fired upon, right? That means we just have to kill it from beyond that range in 1 shot."

"That's crazy!" Ritsuko gasped. "What about the A.T. field? The angel managed to overwhelm both Unit-00 and 02 at the same time!"

"Overwhelm, you said?" Misato smiled. "We just have to overwhelm _it_. There's no reason we can't crank our output sky high if we had enough power, right?"

"Insanity, Misato," Ritsuko sighed. "Our A.T. field has an extremely limited range – certainly less than a kilometer. And where in Japan are you going to get that much power?"

"Why, all of it, of course. And I also know exactly how we're going to attack the damn Angel."

With that, Misato pulled out a stack of photocopies from her bag. The abstract was quickly passed around, and each members present gave it a once over.

"This is…" Ritsuko finally said, "It's really risky, Misato. Are you sure this is going to work? What does the Magi say about the success rate?"

"8%," The chief of operations grinned, " and of course I'm not sure. But when you're behind, you've gotta take some chances to win. They say go big or go home! There's no way we can lose any harder than we already are, right?"

* * *

The staffs of the JSSDF special R&D operations stared at the woman before them with puzzlement.

"The automated positron rifle?" The head researcher asked. "Surely, you can't be serious?!"

"I'm not Sirius," Misato answered. "I'm Major Katsuragi of NERV special operations division. By the authority of the United Nations, we hereby requisition the positron cannon as of 15:00 hours today."

"Ridiculous!" the researcher continued. "Why would you ever want the damn thing? It's completely useless!"

"Huh?" a twitch of doubt flashed across the Major's face. "What do you mean it's useless?"

"The positron cannon is just a showpiece so we can get funding for our Antimatter catalyst research. We needed something weapon-like to compete against the robotics department for the JSSDF grand; but the weapon itself is flawed from conception. There's no way we can contain a nuclear explosion inside a gun barrel."

The NERV commander froze for a second, then smiled. "You do have a functional unit, right? You must've shown the auditors something when they came round to check."

"Yes, but-"

"Good!" Misato pressed a button on her headset radio. "Rei, take it away. Try not to damage anything in the process."

Suddenly, a humongous robot tore off the roof of the lab warehouse – like a child prying open a candy jar.

"Oops, sorry about that." The Major grinned mischievously.

"You're crazy!" The researcher shouted. "Even if the explosion doesn't kill you, firing a 1 ton projectile with that kind of energy will generate enough recoil to slam a 400 ton turret backwards at 325 kilometers an hour! I don't care how tough your robot is – it's going to get its head torn off. Surely, you know about momentum conservation!"

"I do," Misato turned to leave. "It's just that, around where I work, physics is less of a law and more of a guideline. Rei, let's get out of here!"

The researchers watched helplessly as the orange Cyclops grabbed their precious equipment while the NERV commander started for the door. Just before she left, however, the woman turned around and smiled.

"Oh, and one last thing," Misato winked. "Don't call me Shirley."

* * *

_A little girl ran through the corridors of her house. The bright sun shines endlessly through the innumerable windows. A joyous laughter echoes through the hall as a vivid voice cried out._

"_Mother! Mother! I did it! I'm in!"_

_Doors swing open before the unstoppable girl. Nothing can hold her back, now. The hard part is over – all that's left is to follow through the motion_

"_Mother! Listen! I've done it! All that hard work paid off! Finally, mother, finally our hard work pays off!"_

_The final door opens and the girl dashed up to her mother's side. At last! At long last! After all this time, she can finally be-_

Asuka Langley Soryu awoke with a start. She seems to be in a gently lit hospital room, snuggly tucked in between sterile white sheets. The orange tinged sunlight marked the hour as late afternoon or early evening. No major pain, injury or discomfort.

The second children stared at the ceiling for a moment, then gently closed her eyes. There was much to think about.

_What happened?_ The girl wondered. _I was in Unit-02. We deployed to fight the Angel. I prepared my defenses, and then… and then…_

A bead of tear ran down her face.

_And then I lost_.

Asuka noticed her breathing getting erratic. She noticed the constriction of her lungs. She noticed a stream of moisture flowing down her face.

_I lost. I was up against my first real enemy, and I lost. I tried my best. I prepped my defenses. I did everything I could. And I still lost. I lost so badly it wasn't even a fight. After all this time training, practicing, preparing…_

Asuka heard the sound of a door sliding open. A trolley clicked gently as it rolled up to her bedside. With a quick swipe across her eyes, the second children lifted her head and watched as Shinji Ikari pulled up a stool next to her.

"Your dinner," said the boy. "Better eat up, or you're gonna black out before the end of the night."

"What happened?" Asuka asked. "Did we defeat the Angel? What are you doing here?"

"You were caught in the Angel's attack," Shinji answered. "You've been passed out for the past 6 hours. The Angel is still alive, and has burrowed down passed 11 of the 22 armor layers defending the Geofront. I'm afraid it got us good."

The boy sat down on the rickety seat.

"As for me, I guess I'm just a useless messenger. Unit-01 is still out. Repair efforts are focused on Unit-02 and 00 for now but, if I have it my way, Unit-01 should be done some time early tomorrow. If I _really_ had it my way, though, Unit-01 shouldn't matter at all. I'm here to tell you about the schedule for Operation Yashima, as well as your role in the mission. Oh, Operation Yashima is a new strategy to finish off the Angel, by the way."

Asuka gazed from the boy to the unfamiliar white ceiling, before flopping back down in bed again.

"So it's not over yet, huh?"

Shinji smiled. For a moment, the room was basked in silence.

_Heh heh_.

The boy glanced down to look at Asuka. A nefarious grin had crept across her face.

"Hehe," the girl chuckled. "Hehehe. Heheha. Hehaha. Hehahahahaha!"

Immediately she bolted up in her bed.

"So I guess the fight isn't over just yet," Asuka was smiling like a mad man. "I guess the Angel was too stupid to finish me off in its first blow. I guess it's time for round two after all!"

The girl grabbed the tray of food from Shinji, and began chowing down at break neck speed. "Tell me about this Operation Yashima. I need to know how my payback is going to play out."

Shinji smiled as he pulled out a notepad from his pocket. "Let's see," the boy started, "Operation Yashima… Long range surgical strike… ah, here we go."

"The operation essentially involves a high powered attack against the Angel from extreme range. We're using the JSSDF's prototype positron rifle to take out the Angel in one hit. The main idea is to destroy the enemy before it can retaliate."

"Ok," Asuka said between her munches. "What about the A.T. Field? We got a plan for that?"

"Yes, we do," Shinji continued. "Just before firing, Unit-00 is going to launch right under the Angel, fueled by the entire power grid of Japan. Rei should have enough power to knock out the Angel's defense for several second, more than enough for you to get a clean shot."

"Hmm. I imagine you're going to tell me how Rei intends to survive her encounter now?"

"Yes, yes. Of course. Engineering has managed to craft a thermal shield out of a space shuttle's reentry layer. Guaranteed to survive the wave-motion cannon for 17 seconds or your money back."

Asuka chuckled. "Alright. Gotcha. So I just have to kill the octahedron before it fries wonder girl, right? Sounds simple enough."

Shinji stood up and tore off a page from his notepad. "Realistically, between the shield and the A.T. field burst, you probably have a little less than 30 seconds of Rei time. This should be enough for you to get a second shot off if you miss the first one."

The boy handed the page of paper to Asuka. "But we won't need a second shot, right?"

"Who the hell do you think I am?" Asuka grabbed the note page and smiled.

"Good! Your schedule is on that note – as long as you get to the cage by 19:30, you should be on time. Here, take this as well."

A red vacuum-sealed plugsuit landed on Asuka's lap.

"Huh?"

Shinji began to wheel the food trolley towards the door. "Your new plugsuit. I figured you'd want one for the operation tonight. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind if you turned up as you are but, well…"

It was at that moment that Asuka's brain finally decided to take inventory of her cloths. The girl suddenly felt very warm around her cheeks, and very cool everywhere else.

"By the way," Shinji turned around as the automatic door began to slide shut. "B-cup?"

The door closed, leaving Asuka alone in her hospital room. For a brief moment, a drifting cloud blotted out the evening sunlight.

"Idiot Shinji! Get back here right now! Ooh, you've got some nerves alright! How dare you insinuate about my figure! Get back here you stupid idiot! Stupid Shinji!"

* * *

The moon sparkled gently across the surface of Lake Ashino. On a distant hill, atop a hastily assembled scaffolding tower, a strawberry blond girl in a crimson plugsuit slowly surveyed the scenery. Asuka's gazed drifted across the tranquil lake. Beyond, off by the horizon, she could make out the twinkling lights Tokyo-3. In the middle of the scene, juxtaposing against the comfort and familiarity of the city, an alien octahedron hung stationary amidst the streets and skyscrapers. Slowly, the streetlights began blinking out one by one; the high-rise following one after another. The house lights are down; the overture should be starting soon.

Beside her stood Aoi Mogami, her bunny ears bobbing gently in the breeze. Shinji had asked one of his operators to oversee the operation on Mt. Futago "to provide technical assistance and record any operational proceedings," Aoi had claimed. In reality, there was little that the bunny-eared operators could do, so she had been spending most of her time easing Asuka into her duty.

"Stupid Shinji, snuggling in safe and sound in Geofront while I'm out here doing the heavy lifting." Asuka griped for the umpteenth time. "Freeloading off the other pilots, and he has the nerve to get cocky around me. What's he doing right now anyways? Running to his mommy with his tails between his legs?"

"Before I left, the third children was spending time down in the cage," Aoi answered. "Since Unit-00 and 02 is prepped and ready, I imagine he's checking the state of Unit-01's reparation?"

"Talk about overstepping his authority," Asuka chuckled. "Isn't that Ritsuko's job? That coward is a disgrace to the rest of us. If he has so much free time on his hand, he should be training or working on his sync-ratio instead. You know, actually doing his own designated job. What a spineless idiot."

Aoi chuckled, before turning to look at the second children. "The young master makes no secret of his reluctance to pilot Eva, but I don't think it's for lack of courage. You know, the other operators and I were there when we seriously pondered the possibly of N2-ing Tokyo-3 against the last Angel?"

"Really? What does this have to do with Shinji?"

"You know that Shinji was the first one who gave the order, right? Even before Dr. Akagi did. I think making that kind of decision under that kind of pressure shows a lot of courage."

Asuka sighed. "It shows a lot of idiocy, if nothing else. He could've planned better, or prepared more extensively. 'There's no time' makes a poor excuse when a hundred thousand lives are on the line."

Asuka stood up and stretched. Her eyes, however, remained locked on the distant Angel. "A hundred thousand lives, just like right now. Unlike last time, though, we won't be putting them behind the rest of humanity. I intend to finish it right here, right now, and with minimal collateral damage."

_That way,_ the girl thought,_ that way I'll show 'em that trying your hardest pays off._

A clanking sound turned Asuka's head just in time to see Misato scaling up the scaffold. Gathering herself after the climb, the chief of operations slowly approached the crimson girl.

"It's time," Misato spoke. "Unit-02 has arrived and the Positron rifle is almost complete. Ritsuko just confirmed the status of Unit-00 and the first children. Asuka, are you ready?"

"Yes, ma'am."

As Aoi and Misato descend back down the scaffold, Asuka regarded once more over the preparation site of Operation Yashima. As far as the eye can see, an endless chain of capacitors snaked down the mountain's winding road. A monstrously thick cable is burrowed underground towards the Geofront; where a smaller local fuel cell will channel the full brunt of Japan's power-grid into Unit-01. All about, cranes and forklifts assemble the massive Positron rifle, a gargantuan weapon powered by the strong force of the atom itself. A train of activity bustle about, as technicians ensure the barrel is aligned and the recoil dampening mechanisms in place.

The second children's gaze drifted inevitably pass the gun, across the lake and onto the distant floating octahedron. Asuka held up her arm, blotting out the Angel for an instant, before clenching it into the international hand gesture of a gun. _Bang_, the girl mouthed.

And with that, she began to descend down the scaffold. Down towards her Eva, her rifle, and her vindication.

* * *

"Electrical charge at 91%! "

"Local fuel cells fully charged! Dissipative loss within acceptable parameters!"

"Anti-proton count will reach critical mass in 5 minutes!"

"Pilot's neural interface are green!"

Shinji leaned back against the collapsible table as, all around him, the command center of NERV bustled with the commencement of Operation Yashima.

"Armor penetration through level 21!"

"Unit-00 primary locks release! Secondary restrain lifted!"

"Pilot Ayanami is prepped and ready! Awaiting your orders, commander!"

Shinji Ikari straightened up, and slowly approached Ritsuko Akagi, chief science officer and director of IPEA. The head scientist had been coordinating with Mt. Futago through Maya, her designated liason in the field. Right now, above them on main display, an image of the Angel, Unit-02, Unit-00 and NERV's field command truck splits the 4 corners of the screen.

"I just heard from Aoi about Asuka," Shinji said to Ritsuko. "She looked upset back in the medical ward, but it seems like she's ready for action now. I was right to keep Aoi on her after all. That girl's got a huge chip on her shoulder!"

Ritsuko spared the boy a smile, before turning back to her duty. "Prepare diversionary fire! I want every stationary turret under our command wired to attack as soon as the Positron rifle is ready. Satsuki, get patch me through to Asuka."

"Yes ma'am!"

The cat-eared operator punched away at the keyboard. Since Makoto and Maya were assisting Misato on site, the main operator terminal had two seat vacant – a fact that Kaede and Satsuki wasted no time to correct.

"Asuka, how are you feeling?" Ritsuko inquired as soon as Asuka's image showed up on screen.

"Ready and waiting," Asuka grinned. "Did you turn off the heat? I'm getting chills up and down my spine."

"It's all in your head, dear," Ritsuko chuckled, "so don't let it get to you. When the time comes, just center on the target and pull the trigger, ok? The internal computer will account for both the earth's magnetic field and thermal image distortion. Don't worry about bullet-drop, the wind-speed or the Coriolis Effect; your tungsten round will be fast enough that their perturbation is negligible."

"Center on the target, pull the trigger." Asuka's countenance tighten in focus. "Got it. Center on the target, pull the trigger. Center on the target, pull the trigger. Center on the target, pull the trigger…"

"Ritsuko, the capacitors are maxed out and the Positron rifle should be ready in 15 seconds." Misato's image switch up onto the screen. "Unit-02 is ready to reinforce the fission chamber with its A.T. Field. Everything is set on our end."

"Good," the chief of science acknowledge. "As of this instant, the overture for Operation: Yashima is over! We will now commence attack on the Angel. Shigeru, please start us off."

"Yes, ma'am!"

The lone male operator pressed a button, and a light show broke out the main floating topology map. Dozens upon dozens of marker lit up, indicating that the stationary turrets, artillery and missile pods have begun their diversionary attack on the Angel.

On screen, the octahedral enemy brushed off each blow like a warm breeze; its A.T. field shimmered brilliantly as a hundred million yen's worth of weaponry vanish into smoke.

"Energy flux detected," Kaede shouted, "the Angel is retaliating!"

In the blink of an eye, half the flashing dots on the floating map fade to black.

"Launch Rei as soon as the salvos have ended and the Angel begins recouping from its attack." Ritsuko commanded. "Asuka, the positron rifle?"

"98…99%!" Asuka responded. "Commencing A.T. field reinforcement! I'll fire as soon as-"

"Chief Akagi!" Satsuki's voice cut her off. "The Angel has changed its trajectory! New ballistic path is aimed directly at Unit-02 on Mt. Futago!"

"What?" Ritsuko snapped around in shock. "Impossible! Deploy Unit-00. Deploy Rei now! Asuka, fire!"

"Schiße!" the crimson girl swore, and pulled the trigger.

* * *

Within the firing chamber, a jet of Anti-Proton slams into a small, subcritical mass of Uranium. The impact released a burst of neutron, which sparked a chain of fission reaction. The resulting nuclear explosion, slamming outwards from the epicenter, collide into a surrounding A.T. field matrix. 1-TerraJoules of energy, thus diverted, crashed into a 1-ton block of tungsten, accelerating it to 130,000 km/h nigh-instantaneously. As the projectile flashed down the barrel, the Positron gun shot backwards in recoil – halted in its path before Unit-02's upper arm and shoulder by a set of orange concentric rings. The tungsten shell flew across the face of Lake Ashino at approximately 100 times the local speed of sound. It will travel the 5 kilometers distance from Mt. Futago to downtown Tokyo-3 in 0.14 seconds.

Midway through its flight, the shell collided with the brilliant beam of energy fired streaming from the morphing Angel. A thunderous sound, like a space shuttle launching, bellowed through the caldera. Even as the Tungsten block split apart, the fragments continue on their path; propelled by the massive amount of energy. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the energy blast gave way and the fragment cloud, now slowed to a crawl, collided harmlessly against the Angel's A.T. Field.

* * *

"Dammit! We can't overpower that wave-motion cannon." Ritsuko muttered. "Where's Rei?! How long until the next shot is ready?!"

"Rei has just reached the surface of Tokyo-3," the three operators began reporting. "The thermal shield is deployed, and Unit-00 is maintaining its maximum A.T. Field. She's moving to block the Angel's line of sight right now!"

"30-seconds until the next Positron rifle shot! They're reloading the projectile and replenishing the Anti-Proton source as quickly as possible!"

"Massive flux of energy inside the Angel again! Trajectory aimed at Unit-00!"

"Rei, defend yourself!" Ritsuko shouted.

On screen, a blast of incandescent erupted from the floating menace again; crashing into Unit-00's defending shield.

"Unit-00's A.T. Field is completely eroded!" Satsuki shouted. "Shield integrity life time: 17-seconds remaining!"

"How's the positron rifle?"

"Projectile reloaded!" Shigeru yelled, "Anti-proton count 70%... 71%...!"

"Shield integrity: 11-seconds… 10-seconds…"

"The A.T. Field burst!" Ritsuko blared. "How long can we maintain it?"

"Our capacitor bank has enough energy for 13-seconds of sustained burst. Should we use it, Dr. Akagi?"

"Do it! Do it now!"

Immediately Unit-00's umbilical cable crackle with power. An orange shell of energy manifest around the Eva, expanding and pushing back the Wave-motion blast.

"Conserve it, Rei!" Shinji shouted. "Use just enough to defend yourself! Save the rest for Asuka!"

Slowly, the orange shell retracted - stopping a few meters before the molten, dripping remains of what used to be a reentry shield. Miraculously, the energy ray wavered, and sputtered out.

"The Angel is recharging!" Kaede spoke. "Critical energy in 10-seconds…9…"

"Anti-proton count 98%...99%...100!"

"Asuka!" Shinji shouted.

"Rei!" Ritsuko screamed.

"Fire/Burst now!"

* * *

A sphere of brilliant chromatic energy erupted forth from Unit-00. Immediately, the brilliant sheen on the Angel's octahedral surface vanishes, leaving a matte tone on the ever morphing alien. The Angel, perhaps realizing that its unbreakable protection was gone, quickly shifted into a shield-like form.

Not quickly enough. 1-ton of high-speed Tungsten smashes into the Angel at 36,000 meters per second. Asuka's aim was true, as the shell punch through the shimmering blue Angel towards its core.

Immediately a shrill scream-like noise reverb through the valley. The Angel twisted and morphed, like scattered coral caught in the undertow, before stopping in its throes. Through the punctured hole, a torrent of crimson, blood-like fluid gushes out.

The Angel was still.

* * *

"I did it…" Asuka muttered. "I won… We did it! The Angel is defeated! We won!"

A torrent of cheers could be heard coming through her radio. Around her, the engineers of Operation Yashima proceeded with the Positron rifle reload. Celebrating as they go, the technicians were only following through the motion as a matter of formality.

"Reloading routine commenced! Rifle rearmed in 35 seconds!"

"Capacitor array recharging! Local cell at 2% power!"

"Great job Asuka, Rei," Misato's voice sounded. "Confirm destruction of the Angel! Monitor it across every channel. We don't need any surprises."

"Rei, begin extraction procedure. Use elevator 2-F." This was Ritsuko.

"Put a close-up of the Angel's corpse on screen," a young male voice crackled through the channels. "I want every type of sensors we have on its core. Make absolutely sure that the Angel has been critically wounded-"

"What's the matter, Shinji?" Asuka couldn't resist. "Can't believe how thorough I am with my job? Tell you what. I'll put another bullet into the damn thing if you like. Always double-tap, eh? This one's with my compliments."

"Reload the Positron Rifle," Shinji's voice responded. "Reload it now."

"Jeez, Shinji, relax. The shot should be ready in 20 seconds. I know you want your fireworks, but hold your horses, alright?"

"Now, dammit!" Shinji's voice continued. "Get in position, Rei, and somebody please tell me we have more than 10% in our capacitor."

"Shinji? What's wrong? The Angel's dead. The A.T. field is gone. We don't need another burst to blow-up its corpse to kingdom come."

It was in that moment that Asuka caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. That's odd. The only thing in her line-of-sight was the rifle scope and the aiming assistance screen, still pointed at the corpse of their vanquished Angel.

Scheiße.

Asuka quickly re-aimed down her scope; the aiming assistant zoomed her field of view onto the distant enemy. There, around a mass of morphing blue, was a small bullet-hole where her shot had struck the target.

And in that hole, Asuka saw a dark metallic block – stopped mere meters before a round, deep crimson core.

* * *

Shinji watched as the command center around him degenerated into chaos. How did this happen? They were so close! Did Rei lose too much power defending? Was the burst insufficient in puncturing the final layer of defense? Did the Angel deploy a counter-attack at the last second in some Diabolus ExMachina, negating some energy and softening the blow?

There was no way to know. After the Angel resurrected, it immediately blasted Rei with another attack. Unit-00 was completely scorched, and they had to blow another block of Tokyo-03 to evacuate Rei. Afterwards, the Angel resumed its assault on Asuka and Unit-02. Although the Positron rifle counteracted the first energy blast, the Angel could recharge faster and thus leveled Mt. Futago in its second attack. They've had no communication from Misato, Asuka or anybody else on the firing base since; either their radio was fried, the Angel was now jamming transmissions, or everyone was dead.

Before him, Ritsuko was busy seeing to the recovery of Rei and Unit-00. Shinji spared a glance towards his father who, after a brief conversation with Fuyutsuki, left the bridge with the second commander in charge.

A roaring sound thundered through the command center. On screen, the sensors show that the 22nd plate of armor has finally succumbed. The last barrier above the Geofront was defeated at last.

* * *

_Cliffhangers! Everybody loves cliffhangers. Seriously though, how many of you realized that there's no way Operation Yashima could succeed? Show of hands, please?_

_The author found it vexing that canon!Positron Rifle was more of a rail gun than a Positron gun. The rifle as depicted in this chapter is very much faux-science voodoo; this is generally the case with anything involving A.T. Fields. An Antimatter-catalyzed nuclear pulse propulsion system, however, is a real concept. Look it up._

_The reader is encouraged to try and reason out how Shinji and NERV might survive this latest ordeal. As it stands, the author doubts that anyone would be able to get it (aka. it's not very fair), but you might be able to figure out the individual ingredients that come into play! {EDIT: after reviewing/updating the chapter, it is now less unfair. Still not very fair though}_

_Of course, there's also the possibility that he just kills everyone and ends the story right here; turning the subsequent chapters into a RomCom instead. Wouldn't put it pass him. The scummy sack of Scheiße._


	11. Less a lie and more a half-truth

The Geofront's final line of defense consist of 100 layers of plate armor protecting the main shaft. The 100 layers are separated into 25 safety levels consisting of 4 bulkheads each. In theory, however, NERV's defensive doctrine involves deploying the Eva and stopping any Angel incursion from breaching the 22 layers of armor above the Geofront in the first place. Any combat within the Geofront is extremely costly, especially since operationally-vital infrastructure, e.g. Central Dogma and the Eva Cage, have very little defense themselves against a foe of an Angelic nature. Conventional weaponry support is also limited underground, thus it is believed that Eva cannot possibly faire better against an adversary within the Geofront than without. Nevertheless, since main shaft is significantly deeper (~2000m) than the distance from Tokyo-3's surface to the Geofront (~100m), it was considered prudent to put as many layers of defense within as physically feasible. Still, it is best to consider these armor layers as a desperate measure; any strategic maneuver should regard the 22 armor layer above the Geofront as the final defense line.

_- Classified Information File#0000017-B, item 75. "Abstract from 'Geofront's final line of defense'"; Security clearance level 2: Internally Disclosed Information_

Free Wille is a family movie from the 1990s produced by Wagner Bros. The film, a major financial success, depicted the journey of a young girl as she struggled to find a place for himself in a post-apocalyptic world. Joining a resistance group as they struggled against an oppressive military organization, the heroine met a ragtag band of misfit including a jaded military commander, a seemingly ageless girl and a mysterious boy with a connection to her long lost family. The film was critically acclaimed for its artistic direction and musical score, as well as its deep exploration of the human will and determinism; all packaged in a masterpiece that appealed equally to children and parents alike.

_- Classified Information File#0000017-B, item 50. "NERV library multimedia item#153698625 (Free Wille)"; Security clearance level 2: Internally Disclosed Information_

* * *

"_Mother, why do you fight?"_

_That's a terribly odd question, dear. I'm a scientist, not a savage. It's strictly against my policy to fight._

"_Mother…"_

_Sorry, dear. Are you talking about my job? You already know we're working to save humanity, right?_

"_Yes, mother, but why? Why do you want to save humanity? Why do you come home so late? Why don't you play with me all the time?"_

_Well, that's one complicated question, isn't it? Like all complicated questions, there's no simple answers here. Do you really want to know?_

"_Yes, mother. Please."_

_I see… Alright, then. I guess it's ok to tell you about my goals. Now now…where should I begin?_

_I guess I should start with my goal as a scientist. I've told you about the human spirit, right? The curious, audacious and indomitable human spirit. It's the living will that drives us, dear. The desire to overcome all adversity and reach beyond the stars._

* * *

It had been two hours since all contact outside Geofront or Tokyo-3 had ceased. The Angel had, somehow, managed to selectively jam all electronic communications; including their secure land-line to Mt. Futago. Of course, it was still possible to physically send a relief squadron; so it was quite disheartening to discover that many bridges and roads out of Tokyo-3 had been badly damaged in the aftermath of Operation Yashima's diversionary stunt. Attempts to send rescue helicopters quickly taught them that the Angel had become much more robust with what it considered a threat. Faced with such harsh constrains, courier teams have been sent Mt. Futago and the neighboring JSSDF base in Gotenba on foot. No one wanted to test the Angel's expanded definition of threat, though, so in combination with the hazardous terrain left behind in the attack, the trip is expected to take several hours; more for a reply message if electric communications remain blacked-out.

With no practical way of calling for help, or functionally contacting the outside world at all, the second-commander has ordered the majority of NERV command force to ease down and standby for further instructions. Wary that pointless exertion in non-essential circumstances will affect performance when things really counted, Fuyutsuki instructed the crew to get some rest while he think up a counter strategy. Since no one yet knew what they were going to do – not even how a desperation attack might end up looking like – several officers took the sub-commander's offer and retired to the relaxation vault.

Yet many protested the decision – claiming that their assistance right now, however insignificant, could add up and tip the scales in their favor. Ritsuko, ever the tireless taskmaster, welcomed these eager souls with open arms. With haste, lest her new workforce changed their mind, the head scientist led her volunteer squadron down to engineering; where they are doubtlessly regretting their decisions right about now.

Too worked up to sleep yet sane enough to be wary of Ritsuko's enthusiasm, Shinji Ikari remained about the lonely command deck. The boy paced about before halting in front of Kaede, who was the only other soul at her station. The puppy-eared operator, desperate to reach her dear friend Aoi Mogami, had insisted on trying the exterior line tirelessly – in case a channel opens up or a stray SOS drifts in. Not one to slam the door on a glimmer of hope, Shinji agreed that there's no harm in trying. Yet the futility of checking a dead line with both his operators was not lost on the boy, so he told Satsuki to join Ritsuko's squad in his stead. The cat-eared girl give a shriek of horror as her ex-boss dragged her back down to engineering hell.

"What's the status?" Shinji finally said to Kaede. By the gesture of his hand, the question pertained equally to state of their final defensive line and the external communications channel.

"Nothing yet," Kaede answered. "Whatever it is the Angel is doing to block our line, it's very comprehensive."

"And the armor plates?"

"The 10th security level has just been breached. It seems like practicing on the 22-plates above the Geofront has taught the Angel some new tricks. At the current rate, we expect the enemy to penetrate into Terminal Dogma in a little less than 4 hours – just before daybreak."

Shinji sighed. Five hours, eh? With the kind of constrain they're facing, the only resource they have is essentially what's already present on base. How the hell were they going to get out of this mess?

_Think outside the box,_ said his internal creative. _How bout we try surrendering? Maybe the Angel will be so stunned by our sensibility, it gives us 48-hours to evacuate the premises. Doesn't really matter if we go by that point. We'd have bought ourselves invaluable time!_

_I'd agree with you,_ the internal prosecutor spoke,_ but then we'd both be wrong. That's the most idiotic idea I've ever heard. Is there something wrong with your head? Your honor, permission to execute the extremely tactless part of our existence. I'm confident it'll be doing us all a favor._

_Shut up. Here's something to grok over then. Why'd Yashima fail? Why'd Asuka come under attack even though, from her perspective, the Angel was unprovoked? Was there something she did that ticked the Angel off?_

Just then, a chiming ring from Kaede's laptop made Shinji jump in surprise. Rounding the table, the boy saw a video feed of Satsuki; covered in sweat, grease and grime.

"Oh, hello there Satsuki. Aren't you looking swell. Has Ritsuko finally summon a Djinn from the 5-th circle of hell? With all the innocent souls she took down there, I won't settle for anything less than 3 wishes."

"If only, Master Shinji," Satsuki chuckled. "I do have some updates to share, though. There's good news and bad news. Which would you like first?"

"The bad news, please," Shinji answered. "If tonight's going to get any worse, I need some get'er'up to look forward to."

Satsuki saluted. "It is with deep regret that I report the status of Unit-00. It is severely damaged, and despite our best effort, won't be holding a weapon until this evening at the earliest."

"That's bad news indeed, Satsuki," Shinji deadpanned. "I hope your good news softens the blow a little?"

"Possibly, sir. I'm glad to report that, thanks to the engineering team and the volunteer corps tireless effort, we've been able to accelerate Unit-01's restoration schedule by a great deal. The Eva should be functional in a couple hours time, almost 6-hours ahead of schedule."

Shinji took a deep breath, then exhaled a sigh of relief. According to his inspection the previous day, the boy knew Unit-01's repair was nearing completion; before focus shifted to the Unit-02 and 00. It looks like urging the mechanics to press on work with Unit-01 has payed-off. Now, against all odds, they might have an Eva to intercept the Angel by the thinnest of margins.

"That's fantastic news, indeed! We might have something to fight back with after all! What about Rei? Is the first children alright?"

"I can answer that, sir," Kaede interjected. "The first children is currently in intensive care. Fortunately, we already have some exposure data from the second's close encounter yesterday. We expect her complete recovery in four or five hours from now."

Shinji Ikari smiled.

_Looks like humanity still has one last hurrah,_ thought the boy.

_So, got a brilliant idea?_ The internal inquisitor quipped. _Pray tell_.

_As a matter of fact, yes, I do. You can thank our tactless creative for that._

_You're welcomed, _the creative bowed. _Now if you don't mind, we'd like to start wearing Wayfarers, collect vinyl records, and ship out to Portland, Oregon._

"Satsuki, I believe Commander Fuyutsuki is strategizing in the café- I mean, my father's office right now. He was not to be interrupted unless someone has a brilliant idea right? Could you ask Ritsuko to join me there in about half-an-hours' time?"

"Yes, sir!" the girl saluted, her eyes suddenly sparkling with hope. "Master Shinji, did you come up with a winning arrangement?"

"Maybe," the boy grinned. "You should come listen in. You've probably never heard this one before."

* * *

Shinji never understood his father's sense of aesthetics. The senior commander's office, a large chamber surrounded by windows and containing a singular desk in the middle, had a mural of the Sephirothic tree on the ceiling and sub-atomic particle's cloud chamber trace on the floor. This struck Shinji as particularly odd, since he'd never known his father to be overtly religious or scientific. It was a jarring juxtaposition, to say the least; the fact that no other ornaments decorate the office serves only to focus one's attention on the contrasting art-scape. The boy would try to attach some significance meaning to it, but quickly recalled that it's fruitless to interpret madness.

Tonight though, as he stood atop the cloud and beneath the divine names, Shinji had other things to worry about. To his side stood Kaede and Satsuki, the two remaining member of his personal brigade. The second-commander, Fuyutsuki Kozo, sat behind massive oaken table, playing a game of Shogi against no one in particular. A couple steps back, observing the scene with mild interest, Akagi Ritsuko sipped what must be her 6th cup of coffee for the night.

"Ah, if it isn't Shinji," Fuyutsuki glanced up from his game. "I imagine you have some insights to share?"

"More of a desperation move, really." Shinji responded. "Unit-01 is scheduled to complete restoration by 5:30 this morning. I propose we make our decisive strike against the Angel then."

"I sincerely hope that's not the entirety of your idea, son." The old man moved a pawn across his board in a gambit opening. "Care to elaborate? Or were you suggesting we straight up charge the enemy?"

"Well… the plan does involve charging the enemy eventually." The boy chuckled. "There's a little more finesse than that, though. First off, the enemy's defense. Satsuki?"

"It's been demonstrably shown," the kitty-eared operator started, "that the Angel's A.T. field can be overcome with enough power. Before we lost contact with Mt. Futago, a small amount of charge was moved to our local capacitive bank. It would've been used by Rei to deliver the Coup-de-grâce, but we decided to retreat instead under overwhelming firepower."

"I recall." Fuyutsuki looked up. "We do have the tail end of Mt. Futago's capacitor series wired down here in Geofront. If we divert everything we have, how long of a burst can we sustain?"

"Including the total output Tokyo-3, we should have about 5% of Operation Yashima's maximal charge." Kaede answered. "That's enough for a 750-millisecond burst."

"Not even a second," Ritsuko couldn't help but sigh. "And what do you propose to do in that time."

"Throw everything we have at the enemy," said Shinji, "including the kitchen sink. We'll have the Unit-01 bum-rush the Angel, then overload the power core."

"You're going to self-destruct an Eva?" Ritsuko leapt to her feet. "You're going to turn humanity's ultimate weapon into a suicide bomb?! This is blasphemy! This is madness!"

"This is NERV," Fuyutsuki chuckled. His Shogi board is now entering the mid-game. "Sometimes we've gotta kick reason to the curb, and go beyond the impossible. Keep going, Shinji. How do you foresee the Eva surviving the wave-motion cannon long enough to get close to the Angel? How would you touch the untouchable?"

At this, Shinji smiled. "We just have to make sure Unit-01 never gets attacked. Kaede, can you reiterate what happened before the Angel attacked each Eva?"

"The first time the Angel open fired was on Unit-02," Kaede recounted. "Asuka was being delivered up the elevator, and the Angel struck as soon as she surfaced. Unit-00 was also caught in the blast while providing support."

"Good. What about the other times?"

"The second time, the Angel open fired on Unit-02 on top of Mt. Futago," Kaede continued. "This was highly surprising, since Asuka was 4-kilometers outside the Angel's auto-attack range. It's the only instance we have of the Angel attacking a target beyond its range unprovoked."

"Make note of this," Shinji remarked. "The Angel never preemptively retaliates against conventional weapon beyond its 1km range. Carry on, Kaede."

"The next instance was on Unit-00. Rei had charged in to intercept the Angel, and the enemy switched its focus onto her. The Angel continued attacking Unit-00 even after it revived, up until we detonated the block to withdraw her. Immediately after, it resumed fire on Mt. Futago, cutting off all contacts eventually."

"And that," Shinji summarized, "is the package surrounding our mystery. In all cases, the Angel either attack within its auto radius, except to counterattack against threats beyond that range. Why, then, did the Angel suddenly attack Unit-02 on Mt. Futago without provocation?"

"Interesting." Fuyutsuki turned towards Ritsuko. "What do you think, Dr. Akagi?"

The head scientist held a moment of thought. "Perhaps it categorized the Positron Rifle at a higher threat level and responded accordingly?"

"But if that were the case, the enemy should've maintained fire on Unit-02; even when Unit-00 intercepted." Shinji countered. "Our final hint comes in when we realize the Angel open fired on Unit-02 first in the initial encounter as well."

"So the enemy doesn't inherently classify Unit-00 as more threatening than Unit-02." Fuyutsuki mused. The game board before him was entering the end-game.

"Precisely. So we have to ask ourselves: what was it that made the Angel prioritize Unit-02 over Unit-00 in the first attack? What was different with Unit-02 and the Positron Rifle compared to conventional weapons in the second? What was it that changed the enemy's priority in the third?"

"Are you trying to set up a riddle, Shinji?" Ritsuko hammered. "Stop messing around. Get to the point already."

"Now, now, Ritsuko." Fuyutsuki's game suddenly accelerated in pace. "I already see a solution to this puzzle. If you look specifically at what happened before each target switch, a pattern immediately emerges. Surely you see it too, Ritsuko?"

The head scientist frowned, then closed her eye in contemplation. Compared to Fuyutsuki and the boy, she had been toiling the past several hours in engineering and the weariness was catching up to her. Despite everything, though, her pride as a scientist compels her to face the riddle.

_Let's see then._

_The positron rifle… The positron rifle is key… Was it the anti-matter? The elevated energy? The atomic fission in the chamber?_

_If the Angel is behaving with a consistent rule, there must be something recurrent in the first and third encounter as well. If I look back at the details of the fight..._

Then it struck her.

"Are you saying, Shinji," the scientist blurted out, "that the Angel is sensitive to the A.T. field?"

"With very high posterior probability," Shinji grinned.

It all became clear in retrospect. Asuka preemptively deploying a defensive layer, verses Rei's cool and collected approach. The A.T. field reinforcement and support within the Positron Rifle. The maximal field that Rei deployed as she moved to intercept the Angel.

"So you're saying that, if Unit-01 approaches the enemy with its A.T. field down, we could possibly come in under the radar?" Fuyutsuki was grinning as well; his game of Shogi has now entered brinkmate. "But Shinji, the Angel auto-attacks anything in its radius, A.T. field or no. How are we going to get around that?"

"Simple," Shinji spoke. "The Angel prioritizes anything with the field, so we deploy a distraction. Unit-00, as broken as she is, can still project its A.T. field, right? Pump Rei full of stimulants, and send her shooting through the underground elevator system. The rapidly moving target should confuse the enemy enough to keep its attention elsewhere."

"But if Rei is distracting the Angel in the tunnels?" Ritsuko asked, turning towards the boy, "who's going to be piloting Unit-01?"

Shinji looked back at her.

Ritsuko suddenly felt a chill.

"Shinji… you're planning to…"

"There is a designated pilot for Unit-01," Shinji spoke. "He is also the sole children on base not presently in a coma. Until now, this children has been playing truancy because there was never a correct combination necessity, urgency and opportunity. Ritsuko, the first time I met you, you were willing to bet on a one-in-a-billion chance. Can I still take you up on that offer?"

* * *

…_and that's why a scientist fights for humanity, dear._

"_Wow, mother. I don't really get it, but…"_

_Don't worry, darling. They're grand and bodacious concepts after all. As noble as it is to fight for an abstract idea, sometimes that's not enough. Sometimes they're just too big, too distant to keep me going on a day to day basis. That's why I have my goal as a woman as well._

"_As a woman? What do you mean, mother?"_

_Just as your mother is a scientist, your mother is also a woman. She also has likes, dislikes, dreams, desires and aspiration; just like every other woman on earth. She also wants to love and be loved, dear._

"_...like with father?"_

_Well, dear, that's a little complicated. What I mean is that, when you love someone, their dreams and aspiration becomes your own. Their goal is your goal, and what they strive to accomplish, you can't help but go along with as well. To love isn't to sacrifice, dear. It's to become one, to share the good times and the bad. To fight for our mutual mission…it's enough to drive me forward on the darkest of days._

* * *

The pale white colossus, dormant upon its cross, loomed ominously over a pool of its own blood. Before the monster stood the senior commander of NERV; his gaze lock on the giant, his mind lost in thought.

Behind him, the clicking of heels resounded – echoing through the hollow cavern.

"You've arrived," Gendo turned around. "Did Shinji come up with yet something again?"

"Your son impresses me more and more every day," Ritsuko Akagi answered. "I honestly wonder sometimes where he gets it from."

Ritsuko then relayed Shinji's new strategy to Gendo. The silent commander, unshakable as a mountain, listened patiently.

"Very impressive that he'd come up with something that clever," Gendo's lips pursed into a thin smile, "and a down right shame as well."

"What do you mean?" Ritsuko inquired. "Is there something that Shinji had miss?" _Aside from the fact that he intends to commit suicide, not that you'd care._

"No, Ritsuko." Gendo chuckled. "Shinji didn't miss any key points, and in that sense it is brilliant. So brilliant, in fact, that I have no doubt we will be attempting some variation of it at 5:30 this morning. Nevertheless, it doesn't change the fact that the plan is doomed to failure."

"Huh?"

"The brilliance of the plan ensures that everyone will be focused on smoothing out the particulars, rather than consider any alternatives. Don't get me wrong, Ritsuko, the plan has plenty of critical details to us busy. 5% energy output? Will that kind of power be enough to puncture the Angel's defense at all, let alone all the way to the core? A 750 millisecond window? Can we synchronize the A.T. burst, the detonation, and the desperate charge into that window? Flying under the radar? How sure are we that the Angel won't just _see_ Unit-01 coming and retaliate instead? All this, however, makes them blind to the one fundamental flaw."

"Fundamental flaw?" Ritsuko stammered. "Do you mean the loss of Unit-01 and the pilot? If they take the Angel down with them, doesn't it mean the plan succeeded?"

"Shinji's plan might succeed, yes," Gendo grumbled. "But that doesn't change the fact that _my_ plans would fail. It's essential that both Shinji and Unit-01 survive the battle tonight, otherwise…"

The commander tilted his head towards the white colossus.

"…otherwise humanity is doomed still, though perhaps in a different way."

Ritsuko gazed shifted from the commander to the white giant.

"Is it Unit-01 that factors into your plan or is it your son?"

"Yes," Gendo answered.

A look of disgust shot up Ritsuko's face. She, however, kept silent.

"Unit-01's survival is paramount, and so is the designated pilot. That's why Shinji's plan is doomed to fail. Any plan which involves the sacrifice of his life and Unit-01 is, fundamentally and at its very core, doomed to fail."

Gendo adjust his glasses.

"It is doomed because we will ensure that it can't possibly succeed."

The disgust on Ritsuko's face twisted into a combination of loathing and disbelief.

After a couple seconds, she finally recover her wits. "So what do you propose we do? If we throw a monkey wrench into Shinji's plan, you must have some kind of fallback, right?"

Gendo paused for a breath, before starting pass his head scientist towards the elevator. "Of course, Ritsuko, I have a plan. It looks like I finally have to play one of my cards after all. It's a shame, really. Trumps cards are most useful as a threatening presence, but I suppose if you never use it you might as well not have it. Your proposition on an artificial pilot for the Evas. How far along are we?"

"Huh?" Ritsuko shuddered. "The Dummy system? It's barely begun! We've put an entry plug together, but it's a hastily constructed proof of concept with no uploaded profile! Why did you even bring up such a-"

"Use the Magi," Gendo spoke, "and the Key of Nebuchadnezzar."

"But…" Ritsuko's train of thought came to a screeching halt. "But… but it might work… but…but then…"

"But it will work, Ritsuko. You know it will. It's the only way to slay the Angel and ensure that everyone _survives_."

"Everyone…" the scientist's voice shook as she uttered. "Everyone… _survives_…you say?"

There was a rush of footsteps, and in a flash Ritsuko had sprinted up to the commander. The female scientist grabbed Gendo's wrist, turned him around…

…and landed a thunderous backhand across his face.

"You bastard," said she.

Gendo's response – unshakable silence and a piercing glare – said all there was to be said. In the face of such an answer, Ritsuko's knee held out but for a fleeting moment

Far beneath Tokyo-3, several stories below the Geofront, in a hollowed cavern filled with mysterious orange fluids, the soft weeping of a woman echoed forth.

For a moment, the two silhouette remained; petrified like stone. Then the standing shadow kneeled down and touched the fallen one on the shoulder.

"Has it really come down to this?" Ritsuko sobbed. "Is it really our only way forward?"

"Yes, Ritsuko." The commander replied.

"Why?!" She shouted. "Why?! Why isn't there another way?! Why do we have to do this?"

"…"

"It's your dream, isn't it?!" The scientist cried. "It's your goddamn dream. You're really going to chase it to the end of the world."

"Yes, Ritsuko."

"You're a sick bastard, did you know that? You're a scheming, conniving, crazy heartless bastard, did you know that?"

"…"

"And yet, here I am," said the woman named Akagi Ritsuko. "Here I am, hopelessly in love with you. Did you know that?"

"Yes, Ritsuko."

"So…stupid…so…"

After what seems like an eternity, the two shadows finally part.

"I have to get ready," Ritsuko began collecting herself. "There's still much that I have to do before the operation. Can you handle Shinji for me?"

"Actually, Ritsuko, I insist that you handle Shinji yourself." Gendo resumed his stride towards the elevator. "It's probably better for everyone that way as well."

The head scientist couldn't hold back a chuckle. "Despite the act, despite all the posturing, despite all the crazy heartless father routine, you do care about him, don't you?"

There was a barely noticeable pause in Gendo's stride. "Of course I care about Shinji. I also care about Magi and Unit-01 very much as well."

* * *

"_Mother, I don't get it. Does love really make you do those stupid stuff?_

_It's complicated, dear. I told you there was no simple answer, right? Perhaps one day, when you find someone you really love, you'll understand as well._

"_I love you, mother, does that make me stupid?"_

_No, dear, and that's different; but it's also important as well. That's why I saved the final reason for last. This one's really simple, so you might understand it as well._

"_Really, mother? What is it?"_

_You!_

"_Me? You fight for me, mother?"_

_Yes!_

"_Why do you have to fight for me? I already love mother so much!"_

_Well, I guess this turned more complicated than I expected. Why do I have to you say…? I guess it's fundamental to who I am._

"_Huh?"_

_What I'm trying to say is, it's just who I am. You know how you cry when you trip? Or you laugh when I tell you stories?"_

"_I like your stories, mother!"_

_Well it's something like that. It's basic, instinctual and extremely selfish. There's no way I can rationalize it to you without evolutionary psychology-_

"_Evil lotion navy? Mother!"_

_Hehe, sorry dear. Let's just say I can't explain it to you without some really really hard words. The point is: I can't stop fighting to protect you without removing a part of who I am._

* * *

"Huh?" Shinji stared at Ritsuko in disbelief. "What do you mean I can't pilot Unit-01?"

"I don't believe I can make myself any clearer," the head scientist responded. "After further contemplation, I am forbidding you from piloting Unit-01 tonight. As the chief of Project E and your guardian, I will have you nowhere near the Eva tonight."

"But the Angel!" the third children shouted. "Someone has to pilot the Eva to defeat the Angel! If I'm not piloting Unit-01, then…"

A pause.

"No!" The boy hammered down on the edge of the command deck's railing. "You are not putting Rei in Unit-01. That's just stupid in so many ways. She's got more experience. She's more valuable as a pilot, and she's barely conscious. This isn't the last Angel we're fighting. You know it isn't. When the dust settles, NERV and humanity will still need Ayanami Rei. If I can activate Unit-01 this morning, I will make a better sacrifice in every single imaginable way. If everyone on Mt. Futago is dead, then Rei is the only skilled Eva pilot you have left. Why do you all keep trying to kill her? Does she grow on trees or something?"

"No, Shinji. Listen to me. You're-"

"What the hell is wrong with you people?! The one time my senses leave me long enough to humor the prospect, and you're telling me not to pilot the Eva?! If I die, then you or Fuyutsuki can still come up with tactics. On the other hand, if your last skilled pilot dies then humanity is done for! Don't you see?! If I'm not allowed to pilot now, what the hell am I doing here-"

"Shinji! Listen!" Ritsuko clamped down on the boy's shoulder, cutting him off with a startle. "You are not piloting Unit-01, and neither is Rei. There is a third alternative here, and you need to calm down before I explain it to you."

Shinji fumed at his guardian, then took a deep breath. _One…two…three…_

"Have you calmed down?"

"Yes, Ritsuko."

"Ok. Good. Now sit down in this chair and I'll explain our third alternative."

Shinji took a set in one of the vacant operator's chair – moving a cute pink pillow-cushion to the side.

"For the past month," Ritsuko started, "ever since we discovered that Rei could synchronize with Unit-01, we've been developing the dummy plug system. Do you remember what I said about using computers in conjunction with Eva? Since cross-pilot compatibility was apparently possible, there's no reason to believe an artificial brain won't allow us to deploy her in two places at once. Consequently, we began a project to emulate Rei's psych profile _in silico_. By using the dummy plug, we'll be able to control Unit-01 and-"

Ritsuko was interrupted when Shinji flew out of his seat and snatched up her wrist.

"You have a way of remotely controlling the Eva," the boy yelled, "and you have been _hiding_ it?! You can operate the humanity saving robot without ever risking damage to a pilot's life or limb, and you've been _hiding_ it?!"

"Calm down, Shinji. You're doing it agai-"

"What the hell were you thinking?! A dummy system would've changed every single encounter we've had so far! We could've thrown caution to the wind and took much more dangerous risks if there was no pilot to injure! Why have you been hiding this?!"

"Shinji, sit down right now or I swear I'm sending you to your relaxation vault for the rest of the night!"

"But… But…" Shinji pouted. Finally, the boy sat back down on the operator's seat again.

"The dummy system is in the earliest of the early development stage," Ritsuko resumed. "There's no psych profile loaded yet, and we haven't even started talking to Rei about extracting one. At the moment, the plug is little more than a digital signal transmitter that we've constructed as a proof of concept. It would be my magnum opus if the dummy system succeeded; there is no way I could've finished it so soon."

"So…" the boy slowly followed Ritsuko's words. "The dummy system is useless, then?"

"Not exactly," the scientist continued. "Riddle me this, Shinji. The dummy plug is a digital signal transmitter, and the Eva needs a psych profile to function. Where can we get a psych profile that's already digitized for us?"

It didn't take Shinji two seconds to reach the answer. After all, he was sitting almost on top of it.

"The Magi computers!" he shouted. "Of course! We have your mother's profile in the Magi computers! Ritsuko, will she synchronize correctly with Unit-01?"

"That's what we're worried about," Ritsuko admitted. "We've never tried anything like it before, and there's no telling whether Unit-01 will even accept an artificial profile at all. I was going to head down and wire up Magi as soon as I told you to quit worrying about the Eva. If the dummy plug works, then nobody's going to die tonight and the increased precision means we won't have to self-destruct the Eva either. Repurposing Central Dogma's self-destruct device as tactical N2 should yield a far larger payload than we need."

Ritsuko paused at the look on Shinji's face.

"Come now. We're a secret government agency with a secret base researching secret alien and technology. How can we _not_ have a self-destruct device? Engineering is attaching a timed-detonator as we speak. Aren't you glad this place is modularly built? As it stands, if all goes well no one dies and no Eva is loss. What do you think? Good enough to work?"

Shinji sunk down into the chair, before finally conceding the point. "Yes. There's a good chance that it'll work."

"Good!" the scientist smiled. "Now that I have your approval, why don't you run off and check on Rei? I've prescribed her enough stimulants to wake a rock, so sleeping beauty should be coming around soon. It'll be nice if a familiar face is there to greet her with a cup of coffee or something. Go on!"

After a second of reluctance, Shinji got out of the chair.

"Ok," said the boy. "But just so we're clear, if the dummy plug doesn't work, I'm putting on a plugsuit just in case."

"Right right! Off you go! I've got a ton of buggy code to wade through and a human race to save."

* * *

As the Magi computer elevated to reveal their crawlspace, Ritsuko couldn't help chuckling to herself. There was no question in her mind that Naoko Akagi's stored psych profile was completely incompatible with Unit-01. Especially now that she knew how the upload and the Eva core was acquired, Ritsuko was beyond a shadow of doubt.

Not that it mattered. There's a trick to getting around this locked door, and Ritsuko had just the key.

"Hello, mother," Ritsuko said as she wiggled through the crawlspace, passing handwritten notes and other indecipherable markings pasted along the way. "I'm back to see you again. Guess what? I think I'm finally starting to understand you better."

As she sawed open the protective case around the central processing element, Ritsuko couldn't help pondering the lie she had told her charge. _Technically_, she thought, _if you really got down to it, it was less a lie and more a half-truth._ Now that she saw the whole picture, there wasn't really anything to be afraid of; and yet she just couldn't help pondering.

"He would be sad," the scientist murmured, "or maybe not. He might be curious instead. I certainly was 5-years ago. What do you think, mother? Did you think I was curious as well?"

Slowly, one by one, Ritsuko began threading wires from the central processing element to her laptop.

"You know, it's funny," the lone lady continued in the dark, "I never thought I'd understand you as a mother. Go figures that it was Gendo who finally made me see what you mean. He must've been planning this all along when he assigned me as Rei and Shinji's guardian. The man is one sick bastard, don't you think?"

There was a flutter of keys as new command began feeding into the Magi.

"You were right, mother. It's completely stupid, irrational and selfish. They were annoying brats – always taking up time I could otherwise be spending on something better. They're a total pain."

Ritsuko chuckled. "But I guess it's true that some things you don't ever understand until it's thrust upon you. Even after a month – a single, short, ever fleeting month – I can't possibly abandon them anymore."

Lines of code flashed by her eye as the laptop returned a stack trace.

"You know, mother, I made him my lover as well. Even as a woman, I guess I was more like you than I thought. Unlike you, though, I got to play mother for his kids as well. Are you jealous"

There was flash of red, as Magi returned a compile error.

"Well unfortunately for you, I'm out here and you're in there. The world's just unfair like that, right? You've always told me the world was unfair."

The keyboard flashed another line of code, and again the feedback shot by. Finally, the display slowed to a halt. Compilation successful.

"Hah," Ritsuko sighed. "That's finally done. Are you ready, mother? We're going to put on quite a show tonight."

* * *

"_A part of you, mother? I still don't get it."_

_Don't worry, dear. It's not all that important. Maybe one day you'll see for yourself, or maybe not. What's important here is how the whole picture comes together. See, I'm not just a scientist, a woman or a mother. It's foolish to try to split me into compartments. It's only when I put it all together that I can tell you why I fight as a person._

"_As a person?"_

_Yes, dear. At this level, it's pointless to disentangle why I choose to fight. It's simply because I can't not fight. There's just too many reasons. Do you know about free will, dear?_

"_Free will? Free Wille!"_

_Not that, dear. Free will is the choice you think you have when it comes to your decisions. You can choose to watch Free Wille, or listen to my story tonight._

"_Story or movie…umph. Mother, can't I have both?"_

_Maybe...but what if you have to choose?_

"_Story! Mother's story is always new, and I've seen Free Wille already."_

_See, dear, that's what I mean. You make your choices based on your past experiences, your background, your logical map of the world and an unpredictable influence of whimsical emotions. When it came down to it, you couldn't make the choice any other way. Free will is an illusion, but for me as a person, that's ok too._

"_Free Wille an illusion? Mother, there's no illusion in Free Wille!"_

_He he, of course not, dear. The people in Wille was really brave. But my point is that, for me as a person, there's really no decision to be made. I just have to fight, and that's that. When every part of me agrees with each other, even life and death isn't a factor between me and my goal._

* * *

Rei Ayanami awoke with a start. She seemed to be in a gently lit hospital room, snuggly tucked in between sterile white sheets. The silver glow of the moon marked the hour as sometime late at night. No major pain, injury or discomfort.

Nothing but an irresistible urge to _do stuff_.

"That's the Dextroamphetamine." A young male voice brought her head around in a snap. Beside her bed, seated on a stool and reading a notebook, was the third children.

"Side effects include increased alertness, euphoria, flushing, increase self-esteem, sociability, hypertension, hypotension, aggressiveness and an increase libido," Shinji read down the list in his book. "Here, put this on and resist the urge to punch me in the face."

Rei took the vacuum-sealed plugsuit from the boy, but made no move to cover up.

"And drink this. It's one of those juices you seem to enjoy so much. You're gonna need some sugar in you for the operation this morning."

Rei took the juice box in her other free hand.

"Let's see then… Operation: untitled. Report to the cage at 0500 hours. Pilot Ayanami is to provide A.T. field distraction while the prototype dummy system delivers a decisive payload against the Angel. There's a whole bunch of details, but essentially all you have to do is project an A.T. field and try not to pass out from the nausea. Oh, sorry about the bland name by the way. As it stands, noone's very creative about a title right now."

The boy tore off the note page and handed it to her. Without a free hand, Rei started reading the piece of paper without receiving it. Chuckling, Shinji placed it on her lap.

"Do it for yourself," the boy said as he started towards the door. "But if that's not enough, do it for humanity, for Toji, Hikari, and Kensuke."

Shinji paused as he was stepping through the door. "Do it for me as well. I'll be watching from the bridge."

Rei stared at him for a moment longer, then nodded.

"By the way," Shinji turned around as the automatic door began to slide shut. "A-cup?"

The door closed, leaving Rei alone in her hospital room. For whatever reason, whether it be the drug or what the boy said, she felt a prickling warmth around her cheeks.

* * *

"Entry plug for Unit-00 loaded!"

"Initialization sequence successful!"

"Stable reception in Unit-01 from the dummy plug! Power burst at 5%!"

Shinji watched as the command center around him buzz with activity. This was it. This was where everything will be decided.

"What's the status of our safety level?" Shinji asked his operators.

"The Angel is 50% through the 25th security level," Satsuki answered.

"Approximately 30-minutes before catastrophic breach," Kaede chimed in.

"Let's do it, then," the boy strode up to the bridge railing. Down below, inside the tiny crawlspace of the Magi, Ritsuko was fighting as well.

"Commander, permission to launch the assault," Shigeru turned around.

"Granted, commence the operation," Shinji answered, but Shigeru ignored him.

The boy turned around, following the operator's gaze. Behind him, atop the bulwark, sat the senior-commander of NERV: Gendo Ikari.

"Granted," Gendo spoke. "Commence the operation."

"Evangelion Unit-00, launch!" Shigeru declared. On screen, the white-orange robot shot up from the cage in a trail of spark.

"Pilot Ayanami is deploying maximal A.T. field," Kaede said. "Her synchro rate is lower than average, but stablizing. All channels green!"

"Massive energy flux inside the Angel," Satsuki reported. "The enemy is preparing to retaliate! Halting launch mechanism and switching to elevator 6-G!"

Shinji watched on screen as the enigmatic angel, previously morphing into various shape, stabilized into an octahedron again.

"This might work after all! Prepare to launch Unit-01!"

Even before he'd completed his sentence, Unit-01 already rocketed up the shaft; hugging a massive cylinder to its chest. The entire operation is pre-scripted, pre-planned; yet Shinji couldn't help saying the relevant command and instructions; not that Shigeru would actually follow his orders.

"Dummy plug sync ratio at 4%," Kaede spoke. "Unit-00 ascending along parallel shaft 6-G as diversion!"

"Energy signature within the Angel," Shigeru declared. "Predicted trajectory on Unit-00's exit!"

"Halting elevator mechanism!" Satsuki yelled. "Switching to shaft 6-A! Unit-01 has reached the surface; no sign of retaliation from the Angel!"

Shinji held his breath. The Angel, ever fickle as it prepared an attack, maintained its original shape.

An exhalation of relief.

All that's left now depended on Ritsuko and the dummy system. Watching the main screen, the boy couldn't help yelling his next order.

"Walk. Come on, Unit-01, walk!"

* * *

Within the bowels of Magi, on one of her glowing displays, Akagi Ritsuko watched the operation unfold. Unit-01 has reached the surface, but 4% sync rate was really just too low for any useful function.

"Alright, Mother, the time has come."

Reaching into her coat pocket, she removed a block of amber. The mysterious key shone within, distorting light through the stylized etch pattern.

Placing the block on the floor, Ritsuko reached her hand for the key. The amber gave no resistance as her finger passed unopposed through the orange block. As soon as her finger grazed the device, the trace of the human system immediately filled in with amber. The block, holding for a mere second longer, loss its surface cohesion and dissolved into a puddle of orange fluid.

The Key of Nebuchadnezzar gleamed in her hand. Ritsuko attached a series of wires to the end of the device, and briefly regarded it.

"Here I come. Brace yourself, mother."

Ritsuko lifted the key above her head, and plunged it in the exposed brain of the Magi biological computer.

* * *

"Unit-01 synchro rate rising!" Kaede yelled. "10%...15%...20%...!"

"Amazing," Shinji murmured. On screen, Unit-01 lifted its right leg and strode forward – its eyes gleaming.

"30%...40%...50%!"

"The Angel is still focused on Unit-00!" Shigeru reported.

"Halting elevator 6-A," Satsuki chimed in. "Switching to shaft 2-A! A.T. field stable!"

"…65%...70%! Synchro rate stabilizing!"

Unit-01 picked up its pace and, breaking into a charge, sprinted towards the Angel.

"The football is approaching the end zone!" Shigeru shouted. "Timer has start! 5…4…3…"

_Come on!_ Shinji thought. _Ritsuko, you can do this!_

"2…1…"

In a blink, an orange bubble erupted from around Unit-01. The Angel immediately spun around and emitted a field of its own.

"…0!"

A flash like lighting blinded the screen as the explosion erupted out. The main screen vanished in a cloud of smoke. The sound system hissed with static.

"What's going on?!" Shinji bellowed. "Did it work? What's the status of the detonation?!"

"Awaiting response from Tokyo-3 terrestrial sensors!" Satsuki replied. "Signals returning in 3…2…1… On screen!"

The main screen flashed, displaying the resulting exchange. Shinji watched the monitor, and took a gulp of despair.

Before them, the Octahedral Angel floated unscathed. On the ground, streaking a diagonal scar across the city, the epicenter of the blast twisted; constrained on either side by colliding A.T. field.

Beyond the battle wound lay Evangelion Unit-01, its armor scratched and worn by the explosion.

"Synchronization ratio dropping!" Kaede reported. "50%...30%...10%...The packet rate is zero! Unit-01 has gone off-line!"

On screen, the purple giant's gleaming eyes fade out, and the robot was still.

* * *

Inside the Magi, Ritsuko retracted the key from the Magi.

"So that still wasn't enough, eh?" Ritsuko spoke to the machine. "Thank you, mother. You fought to the very end."

_You're welcomed, dear, anything for you_.

In silence, Ritsuko rearranged the wires attached to the key.

"I guess it's my turn to fight as well. As a scientist. As a woman. As a mother. No, as a person."

_Don't be afraid, dear, I'm so proud of you._

Ritsuko reversed her grip on the Key of Nebuchadnezzar, and clasped it in both hands.

"I miss you, mother. Here I come!"

_I miss you too, dear. I'm so proud._

Dr. Akagi Ritsuko, Ph.D, chief scientist of NERV, head of IPEA, administrator of the Magi, lifted the Key of Nebuchadnezzar above her forehead and-

_Eva. Angel. Magi. Casper. Melchior. Balthazar. Misato. Kaji. Gehirn. NERV. Maya. Fuyutsuki. Asuka. Grandma. The cat. The human spirit. The hope. My lover. Gendo. My children. Rei. Shinji. My mother. Naoko. Myself. Ritsuko Akagi._

_My fight._

_-_and plunged.

* * *

"Massive A.T. field detected!" Satsuki yelled. "My god, it's off the charts!"

"What?" Shinji screamed. "Where's it coming from? What's going on?!"

"A.T. burst from Unit-01! Massive flux centered on the Magi computers!" Shigeru responded. "Oh god, there's even a resonance reaction in Terminal Dogma!"

Shinji sprinted to the bridge railing and froze as he glance downward. Across the Magi computers – the three massive monoliths – droplets of ice congealed before spreading web-like across the dark metallic shell. Streams of vapor shimmer, as aerial humidity condense into liquid, then into ice. A bone-rattling sound echoed as icicles crack with expansion. Like Maxwell's demon, the Magi has turned into a one way entropy sink; draining all surrounding energy into its core.

"Unit-01 synchronization rate sky-rocketing," an operator roared, "100%...150%...200%!"

"The Angel has recharged its attack! It's aiming directly at the Eva!"

"Fusion reaction detected! Wave-motion cannon charged! The Angel will open fire in 3…2…1…"

A blinding flash on screen and, at the same time, an earth-shattering explosion ripple through the command center. The sound of 100 layers of plate armor and 22 levels of protective steel penetrated in an instant.

"What was that?!" Shinji thundered. "What the hell was that?!"

Shinji's vision darted to the main screen. "What…What the hell is that?!"

Before them, Evangelion Unit-01 towered, completely unscathed from the Angel's beam attack. In its right-hand, as though it had unburrowed directly up through the ground, a scarlet helical bident gleamed beneath an orange dawning sky.

Unit-01 spread out its arm, and slowly arched skyward. Its mouth plate fractured, broke, and tore apart.

The command center was drowned in a bestial roar.

Before the stunned observer, Unit-01 crouched, then pushed into the sky. The streets shattered. Skyscrapers fall. Rising above the cityscape, the purple beast summersaulted before casting the spear.

The double helix parted, before glowing a crimson red. The strands twist together into a shining red meteor, and shot down unto the adversary.

The Angel angled itself skyward, and fired. The brilliant energy ray collided, before splitting in twain before the burning meteor. Like a scramjet through paper, the Spear of Longinus penetrated through the Angel's defense, piercing through the octahedron, and embedding itself into the ground.

The earth itself reared back, collapsing downward into a crater. In the center, a shining red obelisk radiated energy – before dying down into its former helical shape. Upon its prongs, suspended like drop of blood, a dark spherical core help but for a moment, before bursting like a balloon.

The floating octahedron, now a mere empty husk, twisted and curled. The corpse suddenly expanded, like a living crystal growing wildly beyond control, and then-

*crack*

-exploded in a shower of red.

Beneath the torrent downpour, drenched in the carnage, a purple hulking beast shambled towards the spear. Stopping before the crater, the creature once more arched backward in release. The morning air was shattered in a monstrous bellow.

* * *

Shinji sprinted down the deck. Around him, the crackle of radio chatter drown the command center in an endless buzz – as though making up loss time for all the past silence.

"…Hello? Is this NERV command? Please respond!" *buzz*

"…What the hell was that? What happened?!" *crackle* *crack*

"…This is Major Misato Katsuragi, hailing from Mt. Futago emergency camp. Please send rescue!"

"…Send a crane! Send something big! There's people stuck under Unit-02!" *pop* *crack*

"…Satsuki! Kaede! Master Shinji! Please respond! The second children saved us! She's..." *buzz*

Shinji heard none of that. His eyes have tunnel-vision; his focus locked. The only thing registering in his mind was the three giant monolith in front of him.

"Ritsuko! Dr. Ritsuko! Answer me! Ritsuko!"

A gloved hands slammed down onto his shoulder, almost flipping him onto his back. Gathering his balance, Shinji turned towards the owner of the hand.

And observed his father, towering above him.

"Father!" The boy yelled. "Let me go! Ritsuko is in there! She's-"

"This area is now off limits," the senior commander ordered. "The extreme temperature, the fragile equipment and the sudden A.T. field burst have rendered the Magi a health hazard. No one is to approach them until they have been properly decontaminated."

Immediately, two burly arms grab Shinji from either side.

"Follow us, please." The black suits ordered.

"No! Wait! Let me go! Ritsuko was in there! Let me go! LET ME GO!"

"The chief scientist of NERV was in the heart of the computer," Gendo continued, "when the catastrophe happened. Be careful during decontamination, and remember to pay the utmost respect."

"Damn you father! Let me go! Did you do this?! Was this your work! Damn you father! Let me go! Now!"

As Shinji was dragged around the corner, Gendo turned around and approached the Magi computer. Bending into a crawl, the senior commander slowly wormed into the narrow crawlspace. Finally, after a considerable time, Gendo reached a small opening amidst the pipe and wires.

Before him, surrounded by a dozen buzzing display screen and a bundle of cloth, was a block of amber surrounding an ornate key-like device. From one end, a trace of what resembles the human nervous system glowed and pulse with a chromatic light.

Bending down, Gendo drew the key out of the amber block, which immediately liquidate into an orange puddle. The nervous system collapsed itself down into the key, which hummed with a definite energy.

Gendo plunged the key into the exposed brain of the Magi. The humming energy drained out and dissipated.

Pulling the key out, Gendo placed it on the floor. The empty space in front of the key seemed to etch itself into a vacuum, twisting into the shape of human nerve system. After a few seconds, the orange puddle collected and congealed; finally sealing the key in its amber block again.

Ruffling through the pile of cloth, Gendo pulled out an empty duralumin case. Placing the amber block within, the commander slipped the case within his coat and began his crawl out.

"Thank you, Ritsuko. I knew I could trust you. You were true to the very end."

* * *

_Well then, that's enough for tonight. Time to go to bed, dear._

"_Aw, mother. You're stories are so interesting! Can you tell them to me again tomorrow?"_

_Sorry dear, mother has to go away for a while. It's part of my job, after all. Don't worry, though, I'm sure I'll see you again very soon._

"_Mother! Wait!"_

_Yes, dear?_

"_Can I go with you? I want to see what mother is fighting for as well."_

_Not tomorrow. Not just yet. But maybe one day - when you're older, when you discover something you want to fight for. I'll wait for that day to come._

"_Mother!"_

_Yes, dear?_

"_Good night, mother. I love you!"_

_Good night, dear. I love you so much as well._

* * *

Author's note:

_This is the first time in HIP that an encounter with an Angel went exactly according to somebody's plan. Too bad that person was Gendo._

_An aftermath chapter next time, and we'll have reached the end of this arc. Plenty more fun stuff to come._

_As always, like something you saw? Confused? Let the author know!_


	12. Only a comedy is happy in the last act

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* * *

22:00 hours, Tokyo-3 Residential Section

It was late that night before Major Katsuragi Misato finally stumbled into her apartment. Navigating around the piles of box and garbage, Misato slowly made way towards the kitchen and salvation. Finally before her magical box, the tired bachelorette yanked opened the sealed-tight door, grabbed a golden can, and-

*pop*

-took a long hard swing.

Ahh. Ice cold beer. At the end of a hard day's work, it's almost enough to make a woman forget her trials and tribulation.

Almost.

Turning on her electric kettle, the bachelorette prepared to assemble tonight's late evening feast: pork flavored instant curry ramen. After cooking for exactly three-minutes-and-thirty-seconds, Misato sat down on her cluttered kitchen table before beginning to devour her masterfully crafted meal. As she cleared herself a small eating space, an empty liquor bottle rolled off the table with a clang.

Misato paused. She'll have to clean her apartment soon. What a drag. If only someone was around to do it for her.

"Pen-Pen," Misato shouted. "Think you can take out the trash tomorrow? You can't freeload off me forever! Either pay the rent, do the chores, or move out!"

A squawk of disapproval answered her from the bathroom.

Misato sighed as she slurped down the last of her noodle. Dropping the empty ramen cup atop her overflowing garbage bin, she starting for the bathroom herself. The hot-spring penguin knew how to pour itself a bath and more: it can drink beer, watch TV and even read the newspaper. Yet in all the years it's been with her, Misato had never once manage to get it to do housework. Not that she really mind. Pen-Pen was as low maintenance as any pet could possibly be and – when he was up to it – smart enough to listen to her troubles as well. In that sense, Pen Pen was one of the few friends she could reliably count on to ease loneliness.

And now, as of today, he was the only one left.

Misato absolutely won't cry for Ritsuko. Absolutely. If she did, she'll have to accept that her old college friend was truly gone – along with every other personnel on Mt. Futago who wasn't lucky enough to be behind Unit-02 when the Wave-Motion cannon connected. It was a testament to Asuka's quick judgment that she managed to disengaged the positron rifle and throw herself in front of NERV's command truck. It was equally a testament to her luck that Unit-02 didn't evaporate instantly. Others around the gun, however, weren't so lucky; and even the luckier ones who weren't in the direct line of fire didn't escaped unscathed. Officers, engineers, mechanics, operators, custodians. The list of casualties went on and on.

At the very bottom, only recorded this morning, was one Akagi Ritsuko. Cause of death: catastrophic failure of the Magi feedback system while operating beyond recommended safety parameters.

Hers will be amongst the many funeral that the Chief of Operations will have to plan. Empty casket, just like the vaporized officers of Operation Yashima.

"Pen-Pen, stop hogging the bath!" Misato said; undressing herself as she spoke. "I've had a bad day at work and I need to unwind!"

Giving a chirp of disappointment, Pen-Pen began to scramble out of the tub, before Misato pushed him back in.

"I didn't say you had to leave, you dummy." The woman lowered herself in across from her companion. "Just for tonight, and only tonight, you can soak with me while I bath."

The penguin didn't miss the somber tone in her voice. With a paddle, Pen-Pen floated closer to his caretaker, eyeing her with concern.

"It's nothing, Pen-Pen." Misato smiled, a glistening bead of liquid rolling down her face. "I'm sweating from the steam and heat. I'm not crying. Absolutely not."

Pen-Pen hugged his master anyways. Every self-respecting hot-spring penguin knew a thing or two about steam and heat, and right now the bathroom was far from steamy – the hot bathwater long turned lukewarm.

* * *

16:30 hours, Virtual Meeting Space

"What the hell was that?" Keel Lorenz, the chairman of the Human Instrumentality Council, did little to hide his displeasure. "A quarter of NERV Japan's officers. An invaluable piece of technology. Millions of dollars in property damage. Even the new head of IPEA herself. You have some explaining to do, Gendo."

"I promised you a convincing defeat of the Angel," the senior commander of NERV replied, "and I delivered as promised. Perhaps you were hoping for a larger overkill? I made no other guarantee about the means or the collateral. The Instrumentality Project is still on schedule, is it not?"

"Don't you start with us, Gendo," the representative from France retorted. "We're the ones asking the questions here. You will explain the actions of Unit-01, as well as the Spear of Longinus at once."

"What is that thing even doing here in Tokyo-3?" the U.S. chimed in. "Wasn't it supposed to be at the bottom of the Antarctic Ocean?"

Under his clasped hands, a thin smile crept over Gendo's lips. "Unit-01 exhibited behaviors categorized as 'Berserking'. It is not a bug, but rather a feature built into the Eva to unlock their dormant Angelic basis in an emergency situation. As a method of stopping a vastly more powerful adversary, I'd say Berserker mode was working exactly as intended. It was all in the original schematics. Why are we acting surprised all of a sudden?"

"We knew about the Berserker," France countered, "but that was supposed to be a standalone function. There was nothing at all about the Spear of Longinus. That it is here and resonated with the Eva draws many things we took for granted into question, Gendo."

"Ah, Spear of Longinus, yes. It was indeed at the bottom of the Antarctic Ocean. That's why I was away for the past week with Section Two's retrieval and acquisition. Many man hours was spent tracking the spear before we could covertly salvage it back to Terminal Dogma. You were all aware of this, of course. It was all in my pre-trip itinerary."

The silence made it clear that the committee knew of no such itinerary.

"You were not aware?" Gendo continued, pausing just long enough to seem like he was surprised. "I had Magi forward it through the usual channels. Perhaps it was so busy with critical functions in Wakamoru's aftermath? Perhaps the files were forwarded a couple days too late? Maybe it was rerouted to other less _urgent_ channels of communications. I'm sure if you looked in your inboxes, you'll see the document there all along."

"This is highly suspect, Gendo." The U.K. said. "Need we remind you the folly of trying to defy us?"

"Why, of course not! How could I stand in the way of mankind's salvation? Besides, if I wanted to sabotage Instrumentality, I could hardly do any worse than Operation Yashima and its aftermath. Any plan which involves the sacrifice of a quarter of NERV's personnel, as well as the head of IPEA and a trusted friend, must've been conceived by a foo-"

"Do NOT take us for fools!" Keel bellowed. "I assure you that we are no fool, and we know you aren't one either. Although we have trusted your judgment thus far, we _will_ know if you try something suspect. Choose your next words carefully, Gendo. They may be your last as senior commander."

Gendo chose carefully. He always did in the face of SELEE. "The aftermath against the last Angel is simply a result of our limited resource and information. We optimized under constrain and, despite the sacrifices along the way, succeeded in surmounting our obstacle. The presence of the Spear of Longinus was a stroke of luck and, although the Berserker alone would have probably been sufficient, doubly ensured our victory against the Angel last night. As always, I remind you that NERV has again defeated the Angel, defending mankind and forwarding the Instrumentality Project. If you see fit, an influx of funds right now will be invaluable as we speed through our recovery efforts."

The committee members listened intently, before silently discussing Gendo's current stance amongst themselves. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally faced back towards the commander and delivered their conclusions.

"While there remains several points of suspicion, your track record is commendable and therefore we will give you the benefit of the doubt." The representative from Russia spoke.

"However, we want to ensure that risky situations such as this one do not ever happen again." The U.K. chimed in. "While you will retain control of NERV's first branch and the 3 children, it is on condition that you take our list of recommendations into account."

"Firstly, in regards to your limited resource, we recommend that you deploy Eva Unit-03 immediately," said France. "Further, you are to secure and deploy the fifth children and Eva Unit-04 post haste."

"In the interest of timeliness, you can either pressure Marduk, or bypass their decision outright." The U.S. said. "As for the candidate, I recommend the best pilot we've discovered in our pre-screening program. She has been training at NERV-Nevada for the past several months now, with no less rigor than those of the second children in Germany. Given that both Unit-03 and 04 are near completion, and that the slowest factor holding back their deployment is pilot selection, the committee strongly recommend that our candidate be selected as the fifth children."

"Our second recommendation concerns IPEA, the loss of Akagi Ritsuko, and continued development of Evangelion worldwide" Keel Lorenz suggested. "Given that the project encompasses the world, not just NERV Japan, it is recommended that an external, neutral third-party agent widely respected in the field of engineering and robotics be considered as a replacement head. A legally binding gag clause, combined with generous compensation, should make it safe and sufficient to attract the brightest of minds."

"Again, we have a candidate in mind, but as a gesture of trust, we will allow you and your second section to thoroughly examine his profile and affiliation." This was Russia. "We're confident you won't have any objections once you see his name, but you are welcomed to suggest other candidates for our approval as well. That is the committee's second recommendation."

"Finally, our last proposition is concerning the Spear of Longinus itself," said U.K. "Now that it has been recovered and – contrary to so some post-second impact model – subdues the Angel rather than empower them, we recommend that weaponization efforts commence at once."

"We know that NERV's primary focus right now is on the dummy system, and we eagerly await more results on that front." America spoke again. "As such, it is recommended that weaponization efforts be led by the JSSDF's special R&D division. Given lost of the Positron Rifle, they constitute an idle resource that presently serve little function; despite the amount of grant money being thrown their way. By capitalizing on the JSSDF's close relationship with NERV, confidentiality should be a non-issue. That is the committee's final recommendation."

"Well then, Gendo." Keel Lorenz grinned. "Any objections?"

There was a pause as Gendo considered the proposition.

"They are reasonable suggestions," the senior commander finally answered. "Send me the file on the pilot, and I will forward it to Marduk for their considerations. The terms regarding a new IPEA head selection is acceptable as well, although while screening process is underway I will insist that Fuyutsuki Kozo acts as deputy-head. There is work to be done immediately, and Fuyutsuki's extensive involvement in Project E, as well as his previous professorship, should prove more than enough qualifications for now. Finally, we are always looking to improve our relationship with the JSSDF. Please inform them that, apart from the spear itself, NERV will be more than willing to set up an exchange program should they desire some assistance from our more knowledgeable staff."

"Fine choice, Gendo," Keel's grin stretched even wider across his ancient countenance. "Only a fool would be unamendable to fair negotiation. Profiles on the candidates will be sent to you immediately, and the JSSDF will hear from us officially through the UN Security Council. It is good that we were able to reach such a favorable compromise."

"Of course," Gendo replied. "We're all working towards the same thing after all. Why shouldn't every compromise be favorable?"

"Why not indeed, Gendo," Keel responded. "Why not indeed."

And with that, the meeting ended.

* * *

17:30 hours, Tokyo-2

Kaji Ryoji turned around as the Prime minister hung up his phone.

"So, finding my stories a little more credible now?" the intelligence agent inquired.

"It is incredible, indeed!" the Prime minister sighed. "A weapon capable of piercing any A.T. Field, even ones too powerful to be overcome by an Evangelion? I thought you must be joking! I wouldn't have believed it either if the JSSDF scout didn't report seeing it in action. And you said it's being used to stopper an inert Angel in Terminal Dogma, which then became a blueprint for Eva development?"

"That's what it looked like," Kaji shrugged. "I don't know how much of what Fuyutsuki said was true; that man is snakier than Loki himself. But if he wasn't lying about Adam's A.T. field, then there's no Angel that the Spear won't work against. A non-Eva anti-Angel weapon exist! What more could you ask for?" The man started towards a corner of the room where a small liquor cabinet had been set up.

"Whisky, please." The Prime minister didn't move from his chair. "What if I told you that, by orders of the U.N. Security Council, the JSSDF special R&D division is to take custody of the spear, and begin analyzing it with the intent of mass-duplicating it as a weapon?"

Kaji almost tripped over in his stride. "They said what?!"

"I know! And NERV is even sending some staffs along in an exchange program! To make sure we don't do anything too outrageous, no doubt. I suppose we'll have to reciprocate by sending an R&D division's personnel as a symbol of good will? One of our test pilot is already hospitalized in Tokyo-3 from Operation Wakamoru's aftermath, right? What was her name again?"

With a huff, Kaji started for the office door.

"What's the matter?" The Prime minister shouted. "Is something wrong? Is the test pilot not a friendly enough gesture? Is the liquor selection not up to your standard?"

"No!" Kaji yelled as he reached for the door. "Like I care about your liquor and your political charades! What I want to know is: what the hell did they offer Gendo for him to accept this deal?!"

* * *

18:00 hours, NERV's senior commander's office

"What the hell did they offer you in exchange for this deal?!" Fuyutsuki roared. "You're losing control of Marduk, IPEA and even the Spear of Longinus itself! It had better be something incredible, Gendo, or I daresay you've completely snapped! What is going on?! Did you finally lose your mind after burying another one of your squeeze?!"

Gendo leered towards Fuyutsuki with eyes that could burn through steel.

"Before I tell you anything, Fuyutsuki, answer me this. Just who the hell do you think I am?"

"…"

"Yes, that's what I thought. Believe it or not, revealing the Spear of Longinus was an acceptable price to pay. It is also the only price we had to pay. The IPEA is still completely within our, or more specifically, your control. I looked over his profile, and the puppet SELEE wants to install is no more than a money grabbing coward. He's truly not affiliated with them and, on my part, there's no easier fool to manipulate than a money grabbing coward. As for Marduk and the Children? Well, as long as Shinji is the Third Children, it doesn't matter if one or two other pilots wasn't hand-picked by us. They'll play out their part exactly as our plan require. I couldn't ask for a better trade."

"Really?" Fuyutsuki slowly regained his composure, "and what did SELEE offer us in this trade? What is so incredible that losing _only_ the Spear of Longinus is an acceptable price to pay?"

"Nothing," Gendo replied.

Fuyutsuki twitched. "What?"

"SELEE offered me nothing except for my job, which I already had," Gendo continued. "Rather, what I got was something I already took, the price-tag of which reads: 'reveal the Spear of Longinus card from your hand.' In reality, though, revealing the spear isn't even that big of a detriment. If they manage to mass produce the spear, it'll be such a big net win for humanity – at such a small cost to us – that everything essentially evens out. From this perspective, revealing the spear might even be beneficial."

"Stop beating around the bush, Gendo." Fuyutsuki spoke. "What is going on? What did we get?"

"Why, the Magi computers, of course. No, not just Casper, Melchior and Balthazar; every single Magi in existence. With this, we have essentially gained control of every NERV branch, every advance military organization, every modern government and every economy in the world. Considering what we're trying to do for humanity, I'd say we're winning."

"What? How…?" Fuyutsuki stuttered. "What do you mean every single Magi in existence?"

"Come now, Fuyutsuki. Try to recall what happened last night that might involve the Magi system. Surely you too can figure it out."

And then Fuyutsuki figured it out.

"…wait…but…" Fuyutsuki's eyes widened with awe. "Then that means…"

"Yes," Gendo grinned. "It means we need to figure out what to do with Shinji and Rei yet again."

"Well... I suppose they could live on their own? Or perhaps letting the chief of operations take care of them would be a good idea?"

"Actually, I was hoping you could take care of Rei."

"What?!"

"Keeping her around Shinji has already paid off. She successfully synced with Unit-00 and Unit-01. Her mental stability is higher than ever. Her condition can't possibly be better for profiling than now. If you are to forward the dummy plug system – and right now aside from myself, you're the only person in the world who could – you'll want direct access to Rei at all times."

Fuyutsuki pondered for a second. "That makes sense. What about Shinji, then?"

"I want to keep him close at hand, but not so much that he suspects anything. Giving him to the chief of operations might be a bad idea. The condo that Rei used to live in is still around, right? Perhaps he can live alone for a while?"

"That might work. I'll have Section Two clean out anything incriminating."

"Thank you, Fuyutsuki. Please see to it at once."

Fuyutsuki nodded, and started to leave. A couple steps in, the old man turned around and mused.

"So it finally begins, huh? The fight for the fate of humanity."

"Quite the contrary, in fact. That fight started since time immemorial, when humanity emerged onto this earth. Now, though, the fight is finally about to end. We've reached the climax, Fuyutsuki, and things are finally coming together."

"Are you certain, though? Does every tragedy not start off on a high note?"

"Ah," Gendo grinned. "Tragedies have their highs, true. But only a comedy is happy in the last act."

* * *

16:30 hours, Hospital Ward

Asuka Langley Soryu awoke with a start. She seems to be in a gently lit hospital room, snuggly tucked in between sterile white sheets. The orange tinged sunlight marked the hour as late afternoon or early evening. No major pain, injury or discomfort.

Glancing about, Asuka noticed another bed beside her. Rei Ayanami, the first children, was fast asleep in that one.

The second children stared at the ceiling for a moment, then gently closed her eyes.

_I lost_. _I lost again. Humanity won, but I still lost_.

* * *

21:00 hours, Chief of Science's office

Shinji was moping around outside Ritsuko's office, just like he did so many weeks ago on his first morning at NERV. The clean, quiet hall way was silent, evidence that most employee had left Central Dogma for the night. The cold hard floor. The piercing white lights. The distant hum of machinery. Everything was just as he remembered. On that day, Shinji had to wait a grand total of thirty minutes. Today, however, he'll have to wait forever.

Because Ritsuko was never coming back.

_Why?_

After the clash this morning, Shinji's mind was a wreck. There was so much happening, Shinji had to mentally force himself from jumping to conclusions. The dummy system? Magi? A.T. Field resonance? Unit-01? Spear of Longinus? Berserker?

Too many new concepts. Too many new information he didn't fully understand. If Shinji had forever, if he had a super positronic brain, perhaps he could piece together exactly what happened, why it happened the way it did and how he should act to ensure maximum utility going forward.

Unfortunately, however, it's been less than a day. Thus far, his normal human brain had been stuck in a rut: looping over one singular fact.

Ritsuko was dead. She was dead in the very real medical sense of the word. Whatever it was that the Magi computer did, it killed her and the decontamination team confirmed it and she was dead.

The person who Shinji thought most exemplifies the values he wanted to see out of NERV was dead.

_Why did she have to die? Which sick bastard thought in his plan that the human race would be better off with someone like Ritsuko dead? Why didn't I come up with a plan where Ritsuko lived?_

Shinji suddenly realized that he _did_ come up with a plan where Ritsuko could've lived. It might've failed. It might've completely doomed the human race if it didn't work. But that was the one common aspect between all plans against the Angel: they doom the human race if they didn't work. His plan, however, would leave Ritsuko alive if it succeeded.

His plan would leave himself dead if it succeeded.

Was it worth the trade? Probably. As the third children, Shinji could reliably consider himself to be somewhat valuable, but so was the chief of science Ritsuko Akagi, Ph.D. Yet while they could always find more children, there was only one Ritsuko Akagi, daughter of Naoko, administrator of the Magi and head of the IPEA. While he was fighting towards a better NERV, a better future for mankind, Ritsuko _wa__s_ that better NERV, that better future.

_She could have done so much more! She was already doing so much! In the set of all possible worlds, she even chose the plan which was carried out in reality!_

A plan which, when actually carried out, succeeded but left her dead.

_Why did she do it? She made the system! She must've known there was a risk! Why did she put her life on the line?! Why?_

The sound of footsteps coming down the hall made Shinji leapt to his feet.

_No. It can't be._

Sprinting towards the source, Shinji turned the corner and saw…

"Oh, Shinji! It's you! Sprinting around like that is bound to catch someone off guard!"

Shinji looked up at Fuyutsuki Kozo. Behind the second commander, Maya Ibuki was being supported by the 3 bridge bunnies.

"What's going on?" Shinji inquired.

"Aren't you one curious kid," Fuyutsuki responded, taking a second to consider the company. "As much as we want to mourn Ritsuko, the operations of NERV's science department must go on. Dr. Akagi had important files regarding Eva and other NERV research operation. For now, first lieutenant Ibuki, her closest assistant, is tasked within exploring her office and securing any critical data we'll need for the next few days."

Fuyutsuki glanced back at the sobbing girl, before continuing. "The idea of going through her mentor's belonging so soon left her rather irritable; it seems they had quite a close relationship. As it stands, I offered to help her skim through the files. Lieutenant Agano, Ooi and Mogami, as former subordinates of Dr. Akagi, volunteered as well."

The second commander walked up to the office door and, motioning for everyone to follow, pressed the open button.

"That's odd… looks like Dr. Akagi left her office door locked."

Fuyutsuki pulled out his own ID. Against the authority of a superior commander, the door yielded without further resistance.

Entering, Shinji noticed that the office was messier than he remembered. Piles of paper are strewn about, barely leaving a small space around her computer.

"Maya, where would the data be?" Kaede asked her colleague.

"…The cabinet…" Maya said between her sobs. "…The physical files… one's we don't have online…should be there."

As the 4 girls start towards the row of cabinets, Shinji took a seat in Ritsuko's desk chair.

"Commander Fuyutsuki, what's going to happen now?" Shinji said as he swiveled around.

"I'm personally taking care of IPEA for a while," the second commander leaned against the desk. "Internally, the department sub-heads should be able to hold until a new science chief is named. There's much work to be done, both on the dummy system and the resonance effect on the Spear. I'm sure Ritsuko would want nothing more than seeing her work carried out to fruition."

Shinji had picked up a pad of note, and started casually flipping through them. "So what about me? What about Rei? Are we on our own now?"

"Hmm… I guess Rei is staying in Central Dogma for a while. Her psych profile is a candidate for the dummy system, so she'll be down here for monitoring anyways. As for you? I guess you can either stay in the relaxation vault or, if you want to be closer to school, a small condo can be arranged. What do you think, Shinji? It'll be nice to come and go as you please, right?"

"…"

"Shinji? What's that you're looking at?"

Fuyutsuki looked over the boy's shoulder, and did a double take.

"Give me that!" The man yelled; snatching the note pad from the boy with so much force, it left a small paper cut on Shinji's thumb.

By now, the 4 girls have noticed the commotion, and quickly gathered around Fuyutsuki as he intently read. After a couple seconds, the second commander handed the pad back to Shinji and started typing madly on the computer keyboard. A log-in screen booted up. Despite trying several things, Fuyutsuki couldn't get in. Access denied.

Fuyutsuki got up and immediately started for the door

"Commander?" the girls asked in unison.

"Do not lose that notepad!" The old man said as he darted into the hall. "I'm getting Section Two to help us into her computer. If there's any more of that note already typed up, we need to get it!"

And with that, the second commander was gone.

Shinji glanced back down at the pad, as the girls rushed in for a look; pushing each other aside on the way.

"What's going on?"

"What does it say?"

"Is it dangerous?"

"Is it scandalous?"

"Is it a secret to everyone?"

Shinji sighed. "Was Ritsuko ever religious? Anyone know?"

"Not really," Maya answered. "I've never really seen her pray or anything. Why do you ask?"

The boy smirked, then handed her the notepad.

"It's a riddle. A dying message. I know _for a fact_ that I haven't contributed to this larger, more general conjecture. The only way I can interpret the title is if she wants me to figure out the rest myself."

* * *

_Please enter Username and Password_

}Akagi.R

} ¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥

_Error. The username/password combinati_

} halt

} run dumpHash -K

}} setPublicKey(¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥)

}} setPrivateKey(¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥)

}} rehash -A

} resume

_Access granted! Welcome back, Doctor Akagi.R_

_Connecting to Magi Classified Information archive. Please wait..._

_Success!_

_Please specify file#_

}0013529-D

_Please specify item#_

}13

_Opening Classified Information File#0013529-D, item 13. "Initial Notes on the Akagi-Ikari Conjecture"_

**Akagi-Ikari Conjecture: on the nature of the Angels, Evangelion, and Demons within complex cognition systems.**

1) Objects with DIVINE property can only be affect by another DIVINE object (But DIVINE object can affect anything).

2) Angels contain, and provide proof for the existence of, DIVINE property.

3) Angels motivate speculation on the existence of more complicated, inherently DIVINE Demons.

4) Humans, lacking the property, can interact with DIVINE object only via the Evangelion's A.T. field (Ikari theorem).

5) The contact experiment, being a necessary step in Eva's construction, is key to their DIVINE ability.

6) It is possible to make meaningful predictions of this conjecture and the DIVINE property – to be elaborated and verified after laboratorial experiment.

_- Classified Information File#0013529-D, item 13. "Initial Notes on the Akagi-Ikari Conjecture"; Security clearance level 4: Top Secret 'For Your Eyes Only'._

* * *

_This concludes the first arc! Looks like the author is really starting to despoil canon now, if you didn't think it was AU enough already._

_What is Gendo planning? Who will be the fourth and fifth children? The new head of IPEA? The JSSDF pilot?_

_What is the conjecture that Ritsuko left behind? Tune in next time! Servizu, servizu! (For various definition of service.)_


	13. Money is just a bonus

The United Nation's Pacific Fleet is primary naval arm of the United Nations, directly commanded by the 5 permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. Although the fleet is made up of warships from a number of member's nation, it is primarily composed of American and Russian vessals; retrofitted and overhauled to handle the new emergent hazard of the post-Second Impact world. The flagship carrier of the Pacific Fleet is the "CVN 075 Over the Rainbow", pride of the United Nation's naval force.

_- Classified Information File#0000012-A, item 35. "The United Nation's Pacific Fleet"; Security clearance level 1: Publicly Released Information_

* * *

Somewhere in Nevada…

The dunes of the Mojave Desert are dyed scarlet in the evening sunset. Looming shadows stretch across the landscape, while shrubberies sway gently in the breeze; before dancing wildly with a gust of sand rolling over a crest. In the east, hanging above the darkening canyons, sparkling stars awaken with coming twilight; each brandishing their prideful jewel – red, blue, yellow and white.

Atop a ridge, a lone girl sits snugly on her quad bike, watching over the valley. Tiny dots of light shine out to mirror the starry sky above; the military facility bustle with activity as they load their largest airplane with their most precious cargo. The girl gazed on wistfully, ignoring the sputtering sound of a second quad bike approaching from behind.

The noise comes to a stop, before sputtering off. The muffled sound of boots slowly approaches, yet still the girl did not turn around.

"It's time," the man said; the slightest hint of an accent in his voice.

"Just a bit longer?" the girl answered. "Just until the sun completely sets. It won't take 15-minutes. I might never see this place ever again. So just tonight, can I have 15-minutes?"

A pause. "Alright," the man replied. "If we're to fly with the cover of the night, we'll need the sun to set a little further anyways. We can wait it out here."

The two shadows stretch for a few minutes longer, before blending into the dark of night.

"Thank you, professor," the girl said, turning the ignition key in her bike. With a roar, the engine sparks to life. "Any word from your colleagues in Boston? These new transport carrier are quite a sight."

"The fourth branch guys took off about two hours ago," the man answered. "But they're also further out east. We'll rendezvous with them off the coast of Alaska, merging with the escort for Unit-03. We should arrive in Japan just in time for lunch."

The man strode back to his bike, before starting it up again. Turning around, he noticed that the girl has yet to move an inch from her spot – eyes still locked on the canyon below.

"Your mother would've been proud, you know? She held on until you got your doctorate. If only she saw you today."

"I'm fine about my mother," a slightly annoyed tone in her voice. "She's been gone for a long time already. That her body would finally follow is only concerning to the lawyers and the mortician. I never found it wanting in your care. You gave me an opportunity billions would kill for."

The man was about to answer before his pager cut him off.

*buzz* "-Dr. Nunn. Paging Dr. Seymour Nunn. Please report to the tarmac at once. Preparations for departure is complete. I repeat: paging Dr. Seymour Nunn. Please report to the tarmac at on-"

The man switched off his pager.

"Looks like someone finally got impatient enough to page me. Come one then, let's get going. Unit-04 can't exactly leave without her pilot, you know."

A smirk flashed across the girl's face, before narrowing back down to a thin smile. Revving up her engine, she spared the sprawling NERV-2 facility one final glance.

Her home: a cage she is finally free of.

"Dr. Nunn, I think I'm going to enjoy my new job a great deal."

* * *

Asuka Langley Soryu was not happy. Time and time again, people have told her it's not her fault. To a certain degree, she understood it too. Even when one plays using the optimal strategy, even when one tries their hardest, there are still factors inherently built-in to games of incomplete information which promises a certain amount of error. Just because she failed once doesn't make her a failure. It just makes her human.

What will makes her an _above average_ human, however, is the fact that she's willing to continue with her strategy _even if it doesn't win all the time_. Asuka understands that nobody _ever_ wins all the time: her knowledge of game theory has taught her at least that much. It's just that winners win more often than they lose. More often than next runner-up – which is really just a nice way of saying the first loser.

That she knew all this doesn't mean she can't be unhappy about her lost. To anybody keeping score, Asuka was still tied as the person with the most Angel kills in the world. That she missed the chance to break that tie is not something she can deny. Usually, when people miss an opportunity they've longed set themselves up for, they burn out and quit their job and go on long fishing trips or something. Not her. Not Asuka Langley Soryu. She was going to snap right back and make up for lost time.

That snapping back involves fishing, even as unconventional a fish as this one, was just cherry on Asuka's parfait.

"There she blows!" the radio next to Asuka blurted out. In the distance, she can see a white spray of water: heralding the leviathan's approach.

Asuka mentally ordered herself to crouch. As though she were moving her own body, Evangelion Unit-02 knelt down; grabbing the gigantic crimson spear lying before her. Holding the Spear of Longinus in her right hand, Asuka felt its study weight; its ornate helix pattern. Turning towards the spray of water, the red Mecha postured up for a sprinting start. Asuka has never gone spear fishing before, although she'd always wanted to. Given the circumstances, however, the fiery girl had no doubt in her mind that she'll be setting a world record on her very first try.

Bursting forth like a cannonball, Asuka shot down the aircraft carrier's flight deck. Twisting her body at the last instant, she forced her Eva's entire momentum into a mighty javelin throw. As the deadly spear flew out towards the Angel, twisting and spinning in its path, Asuka felt it most appropriate to echo that classic line.

"We're going to need a bigger boat."

Winners win more often than they lose. Today, Asuka Langley Soryu was winning.

* * *

If combining the words 'epic' and 'win' forms an adjective describing a day, Kensuke Aida can think of no day more appropriate for the label than this one.

He thought this day might qualify it when an extremely attractive NERV officer, interrupting their morning homeroom session, told Shinji, Asuka, Toji, Hikari and himself to get in the van. (Ayanami was absent again. Standard.)

He upgraded it to a serious contender when they boarded a MIG-55 D transport helicopter.

He was certain it's a winner when they landed on the 'Over the Rainbow', flagship carrier of the U.N. Pacific fleet.

He was crowning the day as king when the gigantic tarp gave way to reveal Evangelion Unit-02 and its colossal spear.

When he got to watch Unit-02 slay an Angel from the flight deck, Kensuke was convinced he had used up his lifetime allotment of luck in a single day. That's it. He didn't care if nothing good ever happens to him again in his life. Kensuke was so far above cloud nine, the world could end right now and he would have no regrets.

Well, maybe just one: he'd always wanted to pilot Eva in NERV's children program. No way is that going to happen today though. If Misato offered him the job, his brain would explode so hard he would die.

"And that's what being a pilot in NERV's children program is all about," Katsuragi Misato spoke out from behind him.

_Oh god,_ Kensuke's brain squealed. _It's coming! Save me! I don't have life insurance!_

"Any questions, Suzuhara? Horaki?"

Kensuke let out a sigh as he turned around. Toji and Hikari was talking to Misato, while Shinji was off in the corner bugging the Captain. Putting away his camera, the bespectacled boy approached Shinji Ikari. If connections meant anything in this world, Kensuke was going to make Shinji his BFF forever and ever.

"-and that's when I told them: 'You have the slaying spear of slaying!'" Shinji was animatedly talking to the captain. "'What the hell are you doing keeping it under wraps?' When you have an unstoppable weapon in your arsenal, you don't wait around for the enemy to come put pressure on you. You go out and kill him! Then you find a way to get as many more of this weapon as you possibly can!"

"You don't say," the Captain replied. "Although there's a couple exceptions, I completely agree that you should use a game-winning weapon as early and as often as possible. Why, look at this magnificent fleet! We're not built to scuffle around ferrying cargo; we're the aegis of mankind! I say seize freedom with our own hands, and woe be it to any angel or man that should threaten us! Wahaha~!"

"Well, Captain Ahab, twas a pleasure meeting you." Shinji shook the Captain's hand before turning round to address Kensuke. "Well well! What do you think of us going on the offensive for once? Pretty impressive, huh?"

"Quite," Kensuke beamed. "I was hoping to see you and Rei in action as well, though. Where's Unit-00 and 01?"

"Well…" for a brief moment, Shinji hesitated. "Lately Rei's been following the second commander around twenty-four seven. And as for me piloting… I not sure if I'm authorized to talk-"

"What are you talking about, Shinji?" Misato's voice suddenly cut him off. Looking behind him, Kensuke saw that the Major, Toji and Hikari have now stepped up to join their conversation. "There's no secret about the state of Unit-00 and 01. Anybody looking out their windows a week ago would know that we've got it pretty bad. The only reason Unit-02 is already up and functional is because it's our latest production model."

At this point Misato glanced aside to Toji and Hikari. "The production model is made using our new robust manufacturing technique. This makes their parts cheaper and faster to repair. Isn't technology great?"

"Anyways," the Major shifted back to include everyone in her conversation. "Unit-00's armor are pretty badly damaged. It's been using an older platform until now, so we're taking the opportunity to upgrade her to the latest kit. As for Unit-01, we're keeping a close eye on it because of what happened last fight. Maybe it's the Magi, maybe it's the Eva itself. Barring extreme circumstances, we'll refrain from deploying Unit-01 until we know it's safe. That's ok, though. Today's operation is about as safe as we'll ever get."

"Safe?" Kensuke questioned. "You're saying hunting Angels on the open seas is safe?"

"Well, it's safe relative to staying home and defending," Misato answered. "There's no risk of collateral damage, the R-Type underwater equipment lets Asuka operate under water, and the U.N. fleet is mobile enough to retreat if things get dicey. Plus we have the Spear of Longinus. At the moment, a search and destroy doctrine is so head and shoulders above any other strategy, it would be silly to stay home twiddling our thumb."

Shinji smugly smiles. Kensuke, still enthralled by the tactical story from the Major, didn't notice at all.

"I can see why actively hunting down the Angels right now might be a good idea, but isn't having only one fully operational Eva a risky place to be regardless? What if the Angel mounts a counter attack? What happens then?"

Misato looks at the 4 children present, and winks.

"In a couple days' time, that won't be a problem anymore either!"

* * *

"The problem with humanity, then, is the restricted flow of information…"

Fuyutsuki Kozo lets out an exasperated sigh. He'd always hated long speeches, especially from a plutocrat. Even the food and drinks were horrible.

"…if we're truly to become masters of the world, if we're truly to become of lords of our own freedom, let there be free trade! Let there be collaboration! Let there be exchange of ide…"

The second commander of NERV turned towards his companion, and gently whispered in her ear. "Don't believe everything he's saying. Just because a man wears a suit and stands behind a podium, it doesn't make him correct."

"…and on that day, JHCI shall be there to answer humanity's call. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for joining Japan Heavy Chemical Industry's demonstration of the Jet Alone project. I hope I've convinced you that our prosperous future lies in open, transparent, collaborative research and development. Thank you again. For those of you with questions, please stick around for the reception. Otherwise, have a safe flight home."

As the speaker took a bow, the room thundered forth in applause. Fuyutsuki did not join in to the fervor. Ayanami Rei, with her limitless range of emotional expression, didn't either.

"Well then, that's that." The old man got up and motioned the girl to do the same. "Coming out to Area #28 has always been a pain. I would've let you stay back in Central Dogma, but Gendo insisted I bring you along. I hope you learned something from the trip? Now that we're done, let's go back to our project, shall we?"

"Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki, what a surprise to see you here!"

Fuyutsuki looked around and, to his surprise, saw Kaji Ryoji approaching him through the crowd.

"Mr. Kaji, I'm surprised to see you myself," Fuyutsuki returned the greeting. "What business do you have here? I don't recall the Commander sending anyone aside from myself."

"Personal interest," Kaji answered, finally joining the second commander at the table. "And just the smallest bit of professional interest as well."

"Say no more, Mr. Kaji," the old man grinned. "You should've told me you'd be here – I could easily arranged for you to be our official representative. With Ritsuko gone, someone needs to look out for our interest at these conferences. You could've saved yourself the hassle of finding accommodations."

"It was no hassle at all. Why didn't you send Misato?"

"We were planning to, but apparently they cornered the latest Angel this morning; thus it falls on me to come in her stead. I would've like to stay back and work on some business too, if I could help it. Aside from Ritsuko's legacy, there's also a good deal of IPEA paperwork to shuffle."

"What's this about the IPEA? Is it something I should be concerned about?"

Fuyutsuki snapped around and saw that JHCI's speaker standing behind him.

"Mr. Shiro, I'm afraid I can't speak any further about the IPEA here." Fuyutsuki dismissed the man, a barely concealed edge in his voice. "After JA's successful demonstration, it would be quite a shame to rain on your parade."

"Of course, Mr. Fuyutsuki," the speaker retorts, "It would be quite rude for a mere business man like me to pry into the secret cabals that is your organization."

Kaji blinked. "Do you two know each other?"

"We have never met, Mr. Kaji, Mr. Fuyutsuki" the speaker answered, "so allow me to introduce myself. I am Shiro Tokita, CEO of Japan Heavy Chemical Industry. As of this morning, I've also accepted a new office per request of the U.N.'s special commission. I start as the new head of IPEA tomorrow, and I'm to understand you will be my mentor, Mr. Fuyutsuki? I am in your care."

Shiro Tokita takes a bow.

Kaji takes a long stare. "You're the new IPEA head?"

"It is decidedly so! I have no clue why the UN would suddenly choose an external agent like me; especially to lead such a high profile project! All I'm told is that I have the appropriate circumstance and qualifications. I hope we can leave politics aside and work together, Mr. Fuyutsuki?"

A keen observer might see the vice-commander twitch in anger. "I was hoping to avoid this conversation until we briefed you in tomorrow, but it looks you won't play nice with me after all. Mr. Kaji, could you excuse us for a moment? I am suddenly struck with an irresistible urge to ask my new mentee some personal questions."

The gruffly man shrugged, then motioned for Rei to follow him. Grinning, Shiro led Fuyutsuki to a small board room.

"Who the hell are you?" Fuyutsuki started as soon as they were out of earshot, "and what the hell do you want?"

"Easy, Mr. Fuyutsuki," the CEO respond. "Like I said, I am but a business man. I only want free trade, collaboration, and a reduction in corporate tax rates."

"Cut the act," Fuyutsuki countered. "Some might buys your sweet words, Shiro, but I certainly don't. Trade? Prosperity? Freedom? Bollocks! What are you really after? Why are you trying to get into NERV?"

"As you wish, Mr. Fuyutsuki," Shiro holds up his hand in surrender. "Allow me to correct you on one point, though, and that's to do with my stance on the prosperity of mankind. I do, in fact, care a great deal about our continued prosperity. So much so, I'm willing to make a bet on it."

At that, the CEO sat down in a swiveling chair; gesturing for Fuyutsuki to do the same.

"I believe we are faced with a crisis, Mr. Fuyutsuki. A disaster on a scale unlike any we've ever faced before. However, like earthquakes or hurricanes, this too shall pass. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

"You think the Angels are a natural disaster?" Fuyutsuki answered. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Not at all! The Angels pose a very real existential threat. To deny that would be utterly foolish. But how are they any different from the countless disasters mankind has already overcome? We've survived the ice age, Mr. Fuyutsuki, just like we've survived meteors and volcanic super-explosions. Do you know why humans are king of world while other animals live and die at the mercy of nature?"

"Pray tell."

"It's because we're adaptors, Mr. Fuyutsuki. Note I said _adaptors_ and not _adapting_. On a grand scheme of things humans are terrible at adapting to suite the environment, yet we are peerless at adapting the environment to suite us. Against unforgiving weather, we build warm houses. Against impossible famine, we build bountiful farms. Against a threat like the Angel, we build Evangelions. How are these any different from each other?"

"Get to the point, Shiro. Why are you trying to get into IPEA?"

"Because I am completely confident that, one day, the Angelic threat will be completely conquered. I am confident that we will eventually rendered the Angels a negligible nuisance not unlike tsunamis or seasonal flood. Do you know what business men do when they're completely confident in something? They invest in it. They put themselves where they stand to gain the most once their predictions come true. That's why I want in on NERV and IPEA, Mr. Fuyutsuki."

Fuyutsuki couldn't believe his ears. "You're in this for the money?!"

Shiro chuckles. "Hardly, Mr. Fuyutsuki. The money I'm being paid as IPEA head is completely negligible; I would have done this for free if that was what the UN asked of me. I'm in it for the future. I'm in it because on the day the Angel threat ends, Evas will become a publicly utilized technology just like airplanes, GPS, and N2 reactors. I'm in it because, despite how impressive our Jet Alone demonstration might have been today, it is still a far cry from the specs and applicability of your Evangelion. This is my way of adapting the world so that JHCI has a future in a post-Angel world, Mr. Fuyutsuki. That my company and I stand to make a ludicrous amount of money is just a bonus.

"You money grubbing bastard. Don't you see the danger of Eva technology? It's the likes of you that made Enrico Fermi rue the day he gave nuclear fission to mankind."

"But it is thanks to fission that we now have N2 reactor and a clean energy market." Shiro said as he got up. "I fear that you, as an academic and a military man, fail to see things from the perspective of an entrepreneur. In the world of business, transparency and trust is paramount. We need to look out for each other not to blow ourselves up. That's why we need to lift information flow restriction. That's why your secretive research model breeds nothing but fear and mistrust. IPEA might have a head start now, but if things keep its course you will eventually be left in the dust."

There was no way Fuyutsuki could stand this sitting down.

"And you would risk the unscrupulous getting their hands on an Eva? Did the post-second impact war teach you nothing? More lives were claim by human hands than the second impact itself, and you would add Evangelion to the mix?"

"Worry not, Mr. Fuyutsuki." Shiro grinned as he started for the door. "I'm a professional. Since I'm confident our Angelic crisis will blow over, I have a reputation to maintain. For now, rest assured the success of IPEA is my highest priority; there will be no leaks or sabotage under my watch. Thank you for coming out here today, Mr. Fuyutsuki. I'd love to chat some more, but I'm afraid I must go debrief my engineers. Please help yourself to the food and refreshments. I'll see you again tomorrow in the Geofront."

And with that, Shiro Tokita left the boardroom.

Fuyutsuki Kozo could only stare in disbelief. Calming down his fire, NERV's vice-commander too eventually vacated the boardroom.

Just outside, Fuyutsuki found Rei and Kaji waiting for him. "The heli-pad was pretty crowded" Kaji said, "so I figured I'd wait nearby. Rei has been behaving herself splendidly."

"Thanks," the old man responded. "Did you hear what Shiro said just now?"

"Yes," said Kaji. "Sorry about that. Didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"I don't mind. Saves me the trouble of explaining to you later. Keep an eye on him alright?"

"Gotcha, boss. Is it really that bad, though? I mean, with the contact experiment and all, we're the only ones who can actually build Evangelions, right?"

"I… worry about that sometimes," Fuyutsuki answered; a moment's hesitation in his voice. "With all the security breach Gendo's been tolerating, I hope nobody tries any funny business. Let's return, Rei. There's still a bit of work to do on your dummy simulation. At least that, if nothing else, will be difficult for any interlopers to abuse."

* * *

The staff's break room was a floor up from Central Dogma's command center, and therefore anybody hoping to move from one to the other must take a short elevator ride. To a degree, Aoi Mogami understood that it was a matter of logistics. The massive command center was adjacent to the equally massive Evangelion cage, so it was understandable that a hallway dedicated to vending machines should be tucked away a couple levels up. Yet despite the reasonableness of it all, a small, pessimistic voice in her brain still insists that the architect had engaged in a subtle bit of social engineering; slyly reducing willingness to take breaks and spontaneous encounters between cherry coke and keyboard.

Not that it was likely to happen to her. 'Hot tea or cold water' was a mantra that she lived by. That's why right now – as her colleagues fret over the countless flavor of sugary water – Aoi sat back and sipped tea from her thermos flask.

"Tut-tu-ru… Should I do Mourning Rescue today, or Broccoli Sweat?" Kaede softly hums as she skipped down the row of vending machines.

"I'm think Mourning Rescue is just a bottle of grain alcohol," Shigeru commented as he knelt down for his can of blended black. "If you want a focus booster, though, you should try drinking coffee. If nothing else, black coffee will make you seem like an adult for once."

"Aww, you big meanie!" Kaede does a little pout. "Why would anyone drink black coffee? It's bitter and hard to swallow!"

"It's complicated," Shigeru grins. "A kid like you probably won't understand. You'll know you've matured when you first swallow something bitter and find it an enjoyable experience."

"Really?" Kaede looked up quizzically.

"Seku Hara!" Satsuki smacks him on the backside. "Just because you've been here longer doesn't mean you can abuse your junior. Be a good role model for once!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Shigeru smiles. "It's just too hard to resist sometimes."

"Hey, Shigeru," Kaede pressed. "What were you talking about?"

"Anyways! Things have gotten really stressful around here lately, eh?" the spirited man deftly switched subjects. "I'm shipping out to Gotenba base tomorrow to play liaison with the spear research team, and Makoto's off chauffeuring the Major again. Maya has it the worst of us, though. Ever since she became acting science chief, the girl looks like she aged 5-years. She isn't quite as good as Dr. Akagi was yet, so word has it she's been studying late every night. I'm just glad commander Fuyutsuki is helping out with some of the science works."

"The second commander is such an odd ball sometimes," Satsuki commented. "He seems to toggle spontaneously between low key setting and high tension mode."

"Satsuki, you shouldn't bad mouth the vice-commander." Aoi decided to scold her friend a little for insubordination.

"Eh? He wouldn't mind" Satsuki brushes it off completely. "You know that thing about Ritsuko's unfinished conjecture? I was there when second section tried hacking her computer and the commander was super stressed out. As soon as he saw the Magi files though, he pretty much left and told us to do whatever we want about it."

"I wonder about that actually," Shigeru inquires. "Is anybody looking into it? If it's Ritsuko's final work, there's gotta be more to it than mad raving, right?"

"Well, Master Shinji asked us to do some digging. But frankly, there's very little grounds for us to dig into."

"Satsuki, didn't Shinji tell us to keep our mouths shut and report any findings to him first?" Aoi checked her friend again.

"Eh? He wouldn't mind; and this is Shigeru we're talking to anyways." Satsuki again brushes off all criticism. "I know there's a copy of the conjecture leaking around, so you must've at least seen them, right?"

"Yeah, although some of our more religious colleagues are taking it as proof that Ritsuko reconverted on her death bed."

"Reconvert? Nah. The point is that the contact experiment is key – and for something so fundamental to Eva's construction it's surprisingly difficult find any substantial literature on them. Word has it that the Magi files are kept hush-hush by direct orders from the senior commander himself."

"Ooh! Conspiracy!" Kaede's eye sparkle with excitement.

"So you're saying you've reached a dead end?" Shigeru took a sip from his can.

"Not exactly. You know Unit-03 and 04 are arriving tomorrow, right? We're having our initial 'shakedown' activation at Matsushiro and there's bound to be some clues thrown around on site; or at least Master Shinji seems to think so. Something about Marduk and how they make their selection."

"That's why Satsuki and I are volunteering at the branch facility!" Kaede pipes up with energy. "We're going to be real problem sleuths!"

"Is it really volunteering if you've been order to do so?" Aoi sniggered.

"Aww," the lively girl instantly deflates. "You big meanie."

"Actually," Shigeru resumed, "I wonder who the fifth children is going to be. The fourth's been confirmed for a while already, right? I hear fifth was recently just found."

"Master Shinji seems concerned too," Kaede answeres. "He was surprised about the fourth, but claims to already know the pilot. The fifth, on the other hand, has him completely stumped."

Aoi finishes the last of her tea, then ponders aloud. "A name no one's heard before? Must be a real wild card."

* * *

Homeroom was abuzz this morning and Hikari suspected she knew why. Last night, a popular blogging site ran by a certain iDaMan2001 uploaded never seen before footage of Evangelion Unit-02 – spearing an Angel from atop an aircraft carrier. Along with the video, the blog claims to have insider knowledge on two new Evangelion arriving to bolster NERV's existing force as well. In perhaps an intentional move to spread wild mass guessing, the blogger mentions that no confirmation of the 2 new pilot's identity can be found. Within minutes of the post going up, speculation that new pilots are still being considered spread like fire. This made several boys very happy – as they forward their dreams of becoming a hero of justice – and several girls very nervous – as they dared themselves to ask out their crush lest he suddenly became 'hot' commodity.

Hikari didn't get it. If being an Eva pilot made someone hot commodity, wouldn't the girls want to be selected themselves? That way _they_ became the hot commode and that boy they've always liked will…

Anyways…

"Kensuke Aida!" Hikari stormed up to the boy. "Why did you upload the video from our excursion yesterday? Do you want to get us all indefinitely detained?"

"I am a champion of free information!" Kensuke instantly postures up in defense. "A Julian Assange of the modern era! The things I say are already truths about the world, whether I say them or not! Besides, there's no way my father will know anyone went through his embarrassingly unsecure computer!"

"You just admitted to espionage!" Hikari chops him on the head. Toji, who was sitting nearby, cringed at the carnage.

"Ow, that hurts, class rep! Anyways, I really wonder who the two new children are. Misato said new Evas were coming yesterday, but she never explicitly confirmed that pilot selection is done. There's a real chance that NERV is still looking for candidates after all. Hey Toji, let's go apply! We might get to pilot Eva together with Shinji and Asuka!"

Toji suddenly avoids his dear friend's gaze. "Yeah… sure… that might be possible."

"When it comes to things like this, you've gotta use your connections, right?" Kensuke continues gushing. "Class rep, any chance you can put in a good word for me with Asuka? It'll really help my chances if I can get a character reference from a pilot. I've already made Shinji promise to help me out too. You'll vouch for me, right Shinji? My main man?"

Kensuke yells at his 'main man', who merely sighs in resignation.

"Funny you should mention that," Hikari sees a chance to counter and postures up as well. "I hear we have a new student transferring in today. If the universe has any sense of dramatic timing, I'm going to guess they're a dashing young pilots who comes to save me from spinster-dom! Wouldn't it be funny if we embark on a multi-cour journey of romance and drama; culminating in a grand finale where we save the world?"

"Don't joke about that!" Kensuke shuddered. "Tempt fate like that and it'll really happen, Hikari."

"Don't be silly," the girl cut him off. "Reality isn't drawn up by a playwright. If that were the case then the transfer would be a maniac pixie dream-girl set on seducing Mr. Smarty-pants over there. But you're obviously above the influence, right Shinji?"

The slouching boy chuckles. "She'll also be a spy trying to sneak into NERV with my connections, Hikari."

And of course the universe, wary that overt analysis of its clockwork would make people unsuspend their disbelief, chose that instant to disrupt their conversation. The classroom door slammed opened and Asuka Langley Soryu waltzed in to start their homeroom session. Returning to her seat, Hikari couldn't help chuckling as the second children dismissed some prying questions about her whereabouts the day before.

"Now then, we have a new student transferring in to join us today," Asuka said from behind the podium. "Why don't you come in and introduce yourself?"

Hikari watched as a lively girl with short red hair steps into the classroom. _Here we go__, _she thought_,__ come on, dramatic irony. Do your worse._

The transfer walked up to the board and wrote her name. 'Mana Kirishima', it read.

"Hello everybody," the girl said with a smile. "My name is Mana Kirishima, and I'm transferring here as an exchange student from the JSSDF academy."

The classroom, previously silent, was now _silent_.

"I am a test pilot for the robotics R&D division, as well as a 2nd lieutenant attached to rapid-response airborne regiment."

"Eh?!" The class gasped in unison.

"Don't look at me like that though! For the moment, I'm stationed in Tokyo-3 as part of a joint research program with NERV. I'm really just doing communications work! As a relatively junior member, I've never actually had to kill anybody, so please don't be afraid!"

"Huhh?!" said half the class, while the other half's head snapped to look at the nearest exit from the room.

"Anyways, due to the nature of my work, I'm not allowed to disclose too much information." Mana continued. "But my employer does hope to maintain the good will of the public. So on their behalf, I'll be happy to acquire for you a range of JSSDF branded merchandises. I received a couple brochures from our PR department earlier this morning, so come talk to me later if you want to take a look. The scaled VTOL model is really cool, and I've been meaning to get one myself. I look forward to making your acquaintance."

And with that, the transfer student took a bow and walked over to the empty desk next to Shinji Ikari.

It goes without saying that a riot promptly began.

* * *

_Running gags! There's still a few characters essential to the Evangelion-verse that could be introduced this way. The author hopes you look forward to them._

_Speaking of introducing characters, the author encourages you to guess who the fifth children is. The only hint that will be given is that, while HIP contains several characters with original personality (no way!), there is not and will not ever be an original main character. Everybody worth elaborating on will be based on some Eva-related source material; with varying levels of adherence to the source._

_Dialogue heavy chapter again this time. As we enter a new arc, the author is concerned that the pacing might be too slow. Please let him know what you think in the reviews._


	14. Mutual and Common Knowledge

Japan Heavy Chemical Industries is a conglomeration of several manufacturing-based corporations. Originally founded as a multi-level marketing firm, selling laundry detergents and dietary supplements, the firm grew from a small one man operation into the multi-billion industry giant that it is today. Since then, the conglomeration has diversified its interest beyond biochemical engineering and pharmacy; becoming a major stakeholder in various fields including Robotics, Alternative Energy, Aeronautics and Information Technology. With its history as a referral marketing company, JHCI is relatively open with its proceedings and research; much to the ire of several its stockholders and the joy of its auditors and competition. Still, the approach has allowed the conglomerate to work closely with academics and consequently first picking on several emergent technologies; while at the same time avoiding monopoly-related sanctions. The CEO of JHCI is Shiro Tokita, a man widely regarded for his vision and pragmatism. Since the start of his tenure, Shiro has already set in motion several projects which will ensure JHCI's profitability for years into the future.

-_- Classified Information File#0001959-A, item 02. "JHCI: Japan Heavy Chemical Industries"; Security clearance level 1: Publicly Released Information_

* * *

It wasn't often that Hikari Horaki had her lunch on the roof. Generally speaking, she preferred to mingle with her fellow students in the classroom or, more recently, join her good friend Asuka in the faculty lounge. The searing sun was bad for her skin, and she was insecure enough about her freckles already.

Then again, it wasn't often that they got a new female transfer student.

As the class-rep, Hikari considers it her duty to welcome and entertain the new girl; at least for the first couple days or until she found her own clique. It was the right thing to do, and the last time she did the right thing she became friends with Asuka. That her friendship should earn her an invitation to spectate an Angel hunt on open sea was proof that karma exist.

Thus it should come as no surprise that, when the bell range to signal the start of lunch period, Hikari approach Mana Kirishima and offered to share her bento with her. What came as a surprise to Hikari, however, was the fact that Mana had already been conversing with the boy next to her for a fair bit and, consequently, received an invitation to join his posse on the roof for lunch.

Naturally, the posse consisted of Toji, Shinji, and Kensuke. As closer as she'd gotten to the three stooges in recent weeks, there was no way Hikari can let the transfer have her first lunch alone with them.

That was why, today, Hikari was trying to find whatever shade she could on the sunny rooftop. There was several reasons she wanted to keep the stooges chaperoned. Number one of three was Kensuke and his extreme enthusiasm.

"Wow!" Kensuke exclaimed. "You were part of Operation Wakamoru? That's awesome! You're a hero!"

"Not really," Mana modestly smiled, scratching her head in embarrassment. "I didn't really do much, and it was really the red Evangelion that saved the day. Isn't that right?"

"Hmph," Asuka snorts. The young instructor had decided to join the welcoming party. Hikari couldn't help noticing her friend's smirk of pride.

"But you guys were part of the rapid-response team!" Kensuke continued. "You proved that conventional weapons worked against an Angel, and to date you're still the only conventional regiment to face the enemy directly and live to tell the tale. That's pretty bad-ass in my book."

"Thanks," Mana was beginning to turn red. "It was an honor."

"Now that you're here, that means heavier weaponry is coming to back us up against the Angel, right?" Shinji inquired. "Do you have some authority over their mobilization? What do you think about NERV's mission to mankind?"

Hikari sigh. Here was reason number two. "Shinji, you will _not_ use the new transfer as a stepping stool on your crazy social ladder climb. Didn't Asuka play along with your reenactment of Moby Dick yesterday? I know you're not happy Kensuke's video put her in the spot light, but the point remains: she played along with your plans. Isn't it time to knockoff your silly bickering and make up?"

"For the last time, this isn't about Asuka," Shinji groaned. "This is about figuring out NERV, taking it in a better direction and finishing off the Angels for good. Isn't it common knowledge that I'm doing this for the greater good? Everything is a means to an end; including sweet miss 'I'm the best pilot in the organization'."

"Are you trying to pick a fight with me again, stupid Shinji?" Asuka challenged. "For your information, the person who did the actual _slaying_ of the Angel was me, and I would've done it even without your obsessive harpoony plot. Of all the Angels we've fought so far, Shinji, two were killed by me: that's two more kills than you've got."

"Oh yeah? How'd you like to trade your swanky red production model Eva with my test-type one? Ever since I got here, my Eva has been locked in maintenance or quarantine with the exception of approximately 2-hours total. And you know what? I don't even mind. Not only do I find risking my own life and limb counterproductive to my goals, I also happen to be amazing at anti-Angel tactics. I rather like my present job, thank you very much."

"Would you two just…stop." Hikari resignedly shouted. "Can you not consider the company for one single moment?"

"I don't mind," Mana grinned. "It's nice to see how close the NERV pilots are to each other. It really reminds me of my piloting friends in the defense force. In any case, you said that the test-type has been in maintenance or quarantine? Isn't it difficult to fight with an Eva down for the count?"

"Not to worry!" Kensuke interrupted. "I have it on good authority that additional Evangelions are arriving to bolster the force as we speak! No words on the new pilots yet, though, and I am so psyched about that! Shinji, as soon as you catch wind about this you'll tell me, right?"

Shinji looked away. "Well…"

Kensuke blinked. "Huh? Shinji? You don't mean…"

Shinji doesn't reply.

"Asuka?"

"I'm…" Asuka hesitates. "I'm not sure I should talk about this; especially given the company."

"What?!" Kensuke leapt to his feet. "You know about the new children? Please tell me! Shinji Almighty? Asuka the Auspicious? Please! PLEASE!"

"Calm down, Kensuke." Toji Suzuhara has been silently watching the scene with rapt curiosity, finally spoke up. "I guess there's no point staying quiet now, since you're bound to find out soon anyways."

With that, the rowdy tracksuit wearing boy stood up and pointed to himself.

"Hello everybody," he spoke, "My name is Toji Suzuhara, and I've recently been recruited as NERV's fourth children. Can I have a moment of awed silence?"

The reveal was certainly awe-striking; at least to Hikari and Kensuke. Shinji and Asuka sighed sheepishly, while Mana watched on with bewilderment.

"Wait…what?" Kensuke stutters. "No way! You're kidding right, Toji? Shinji, Asuka, did you guys know this?!"

"Yeah," Shinji admitted.

"Hehe," Asuka chuckled. "I wasn't sure if he wanted to tell you himself."

"But…" Hikari choked. "That means… yesterday…"

"Yeah," Toji replied. "That was like an orientation trip or something. Misato told me that, the last time they brought in a candidate out of the blue, they had quite a hard time grasping the situation. Taking me along to see Asuka kill an Angel was supposedly meant to leave an impression; make me more excited about the prospect. I'll admit I was pretty nervous at first, but Misato told me I can bring a couple classmates along. Turns out there was nothing to worry about. Thanks for coming by the way, Kensuke, Hikari."

"Ah…yes!" Hikari blushes. "Of course! You're welcome! It was no problem at all."

Pause. Gears in her head slowly clicked and turned.

"Hold on. No. Yes problem. Yes big problem. How long have you known about this?! What are you even thinking-"

"Yeah! Toji, what the hell?" Kensuke shouted. "How'd you even get selected for this? I thought all the pilots were supposed to be related to NERV somehow. Why'd they even choose you?"

"I dunno. They said I was compatible or something." Toji shrugged. "And besides, I _am_ related to NERV. My father and grandfather works for their lab, remember? That's pretty much par for the course with Shinji and Asuka as well, right? I mean, both your parents worked for NERV as well- Kensuke? Kensuke, what's wrong."

Kensuke had once again frozen in place; his face flabbergasted.

"If…" the bespectacled boy finally managed. "If just having a parent in NERV is enough connection for candidacy… then…"

The boy leapt with joy.

"Yes! YES! I'm in! I'm qualified! I love my dad so much right now! Ooh, I can't wait to see who the fifth children is! I can feel it. My time has come! Finally, at long last, I'll get to pilot an-"

Shinji cough. "Hate to break it to you, Kensuke. The fifth has already been chosen as well, and it's not you."

Not since the Hindenburg has something deflated as quickly as Kensuke.

"Sorry…?" Shinji said with a hint of guilt. "You were pretty unhappy about Toji, so I figured you'd wanna know this one as well."

In a flash, Kensuke was standing in front of Shinji; holding him on both shoulders. "Who is it?! Who's the fifth children?!"

And then he was in front of Hikari. "Is it you? It's you, isn't it? That's why you were with us yesterday! Class rep, please tell me! Are you the fifth children?"

"No!" Hikari brushes him off. "To tell you the truth, I'm as surprised about all this as you are. I had no idea they'd choose one of my classmates: Toji of all people. I'm still not sure what I think of it… I'm serious, Kensuke, I'm not the fifth children. Let go of me, it hurts."

Mana got up and began peeling Kensuke, who had a death-grip on Hikari's shoulder, finger by finger.

"I guess the question, then," the red-haired girl spoke, "is who the fifth children's going to be. Asuka, Shinji, you knew Toji was the fourth, right? Can you tell us anything about the fifth?"

Shinji looked at Asuka. Catching her eye, the boy nodded and motioned for her to speak.

"I… really don't know," Asuka started. "I didn't recognize the name, and neither did Shinji here. The name sounded American, but there's a NERV in the US as well, so it's not exactly surprising. I wonder what her story is…"

* * *

"So what's the story this time?"

Misato Katsuragi looked up from her desk. Before her, the gruffly visage of the security intelligence chief leered back in accusation.

"What story?" Misato replied. "If you're talking about why I didn't go to Area 28 yesterday, then a) Operation Pequod is a completely legitimate excuse and b) stop following me around."

Over the past several weeks, ever since the man arrived from Germany, Kaji Ryoji had increasingly tried to get some alone time with her. Generally speaking, Misato didn't care much for his insistence. Between the funeral, the broken Unit-00, the quarantined Unit-01 and Operation Pequod, the Chief of Operations had nary a second to spare on herself; to say nothing of one for her former beau. It didn't help much that, whenever she saw his face, she'd be reminded of her care-free college days which, in turn, inevitably reminded her of Ritsuko.

"You know, I was really looking forward to chat with you," Kaji smiled. "I had to be there anyways, and you would've made better company than those old men. Still, that's not why I'm here today."

Kaji dropped a stack of printouts on her desk. The top sheet, depicting the landing page of a popular blogging site, had a freeze-frame of Evangelion Unit-02 hurling a spear at what was unmistakably a giant white fish/whale. A photo of a bespectacled boy was clipped to the top.

"Oh, that." Misato answered smugly, before pushing the stack back towards Kaji. "I already OK'd the orientation session with the vice-commander and he told me I can, to a reasonable degree, do whatever I need to ensure the new children has a healthy mental state. Besides, showboating in front of her friends was beneficial to Asuka as well. The video shows nothing incriminating about NERV and, as far as I can tell, is actually serving as decently good PR. I fail to see where the problem is in all this."

"And you're very lucky there was no problem this time round," Kaji replied, sitting down in a chair in front of her. "What if there had been a problem? What if, god forbid, Unit-02 got eaten by the Angel or something? That would've traumatized the fourth and left us with quite a fall out."

"But Unit-02 didn't get eaten," Misato stated matter-of-factly. "There's no fall out and the fourth is in such a good shape, I'm hoping we set some records at the shake-down activation tomorrow. So no problemo, eh? Hakuna Matata? Live and let live?"

"Actually, I'm a little worried about tomorrow," Kaji continued. "Are you sure everything is going to be alright? These are fresh new Evas and you know that IPEA recently had a command structure reshuffle, right?"

"Shiro Tokita," Misato mused. "The name was just posted this morning. Who is he anyways? I missed the JHCI conference, but I do know he's supposed to be their big shot CEO. Can we really trust him?"

"I wouldn't if I were you," Kaji answered. "I was trying to figure him out yesterday, too. Everything I dug up on him seems to paint the portrait of the perfect businessman. Reputable, ruthless, and good at making a lot of money. No wife or kids. No shady past. From where I stand, he's the perfect man to run a multinational engineering agency like the IPEA. Except…"

"Except he's not NERV," Misato finished the sentence. "Let me guess. His monthly cheque is signed by the UN, not us, and he still hasn't resigned from JHCI."

"On both counts, guilty," Kaji snorts. "Misato, look. With their JA program, JHCI is a direct competitor to NERV and IPEA. What is he doing here? Is the UN under some kind of pressure? NERV has always had branches worldwide, but now that we're ramping up Eva production, is someone trying to put a dampener on IPEA's momentum? This is the second time in so many weeks I've seen NERV doing something completely inexplicable."

Misato shrugged. "You're the Chief of Security Intelligence. Aren't you supposed to be on top of all our shady business?"

"I usually am, which is why it worries me so much when I'm not."

Kaji got up and started towards the door.

"There's a level above ours, Misato, and I'm going to find out what's going on up there. The truth is out there, and I won't rest until I figure it out. You be careful out there tomorrow, alright?"

And Kaji left the room. As the automatic door slid shut, Misato was once again alone in her office. For a moment, there was silence as she pondered her former lover's words.

"Stupid man," Misato mused as she resumed filling out her paperwork. "Digging into the UN top brass and he's telling _me_ to be careful…"

* * *

Shiro Tokita was very happy with his new job.

Sure he was ruthless to his competitors at times. Sure he was good at making a lot of money. That didn't matter as much as the combined effect they have on his image. Shiro Tokita was a reputable business man and, in his line of work, that was something money alone couldn't buy.

That was why, when the office of the UN Security Council contacted him with the possibility of leading IPEA, Shiro was thrilled beyond belief. As JHCI's CEO, it's always beneficial to have a strong influence in one's competitor's business. But shady tacticians always get caught out eventually, and Shiro has his reputation to maintain. He was going to turn IPEA into a class of his own. Eva technology was the future and it was all but assured to be prosperous with him at the helm. If – or rather – when that day comes, there's going to be serious demands from the private sector; something a government agency like IPEA can't possibly answer fully by itself. Well, JHCI was a private corporation: one that was really good at winning contract auctions.

Shiro chuckles as the elevator delivered him to NERV HQ's executive suites. He was going to make sure the first thing he did as IPEA head was a friendly conference with the senior commander of NERV. To everyone involved, collaboration is more conducive than competition. Shiro was going to make sure Gendo was on the same page as him.

"This way," Fuyutsuki Kozo motioned. The old man, who had been giving him a tour of the facility until now, was now holding open a massive door to what Shiro presumed was the senior commander's office. Shiro didn't think much of the venerable academic: his stubborn and old-fashioned ways was dated and a relic of the past. Hopefully the younger, more pragmatic Gendo Ikari was a better negotiator than his second-in-command.

"Welcome!" A greeting sounded out from within. Shiro enters to see a brightly lit chamber with windows running on all sides; the vibrant scenery of the Geofront sparkling beyond in the afternoon light. In the middle was a lone table; a bespectacled man standing behind it gesturing to a chair in front of him. "Please, take a seat. Make yourself comfortable."

"You must be Ikari Gendo," Shiro smiled, bowing politely in salutations. "Thank you for meeting me right after getting in. I hope the flight hasn't left you too jet-lagged?"

"It is no great hassle," Gendo nodded. "Boston was nice, but there's no replacement for Japanese hospitality. I see Fuyutsuki has already given you the tour. Did you find your new office serviceable?"

Shiro chuckled. "You are too generous! The local JHCI branch has already set up a workspace for me. Although after seeing what NERV has prepared, I might have to reconsider moving down here after all!"

"Were you _not_ planning to move down here?" Fuyutsuki asked; the old man had once more taken position behind the senior commander. "I know we haven't stopped by there yet, but surely you are aware that the Eva cage is part of Central Dogma complex? As the new head of IPEA, I had assumed you would make their inspections a daily routine?"

The CEO eyed Fuyutsuki with confusion, then sighed with pity. "Of course not. Why would the IPEA head ever need to do that? We have nothing to do with the deployment and maintenance of the Evas themselves, right. That's your job as NERV. Unlike Dr. Akagi, I am not your chief science officer. It would actually be quite rude of me to intrude into your operations."

It was Fuyutsuki's turn to be confused. "Pray tell me then: what exactly is it that you're going to do as IPEA head?"

"Exactly what it was IPEA was founded to do," Shiro smiled. "If I recall correctly, our objective is to coordinate Eva production around the world, while gradually improving their robustness across the board, yes? The way I see it, my skills in robotics and systems optimization would be best spent on the manufacturing process itself. Last I checked, construction of the remaining production models up through Unit-07 is being done at your German and American branch, while China is looking into a mass production process for Unit-08 onwards. If we're going to round out the entire series up through Eva-16, there's a lot of room for economy of scale to kick in."

Gendo nodded. "So you're saying that, since we're not building any new Eva here in Central Dogma, you'd rather be dealing with the various agencies abroad?"

"Precisely," Shiro answered. "And with all the red tape and security protocols down here, it would be most expedite to me anyways if I were to be outside the Geofront completely. It's win-win, really. You don't have to worry about me learning anything I shouldn't learn, and I don't have to bore your second section every time I order take-out from my favorite pizza restaurant."

"So if you stay away from us, there'll be no reason we should monitor your communications?" Fuyutsuki questioned. As Shiro nodded, the old man stepped up to the table and…

*BANG*

Slammed down with all his might on both hands.

"Are you crazy?!" Fuyutsuki yelled.

The CEO blinked. "I'm sorry? I know Provel cheese is an acquired taste, but there's no reason to call my sanity into question."

"Do you think we wouldn't see through your scheme?" the old man barked. "You're setting up the perfect opportunity to leak Eva blueprints to your friends at JHCI, aren't you? Insider trading? I don't believe I can make myself any clearer but Eva _is not a toy_! It's not something we can sell out to the highest bidder! Is this how you were planning to slip through me after getting a piece of my mind yesterday? As deputy-head of IPEA, I forbid it! Gendo, it's clear now what agenda this man is hiding behind his mask. I suggest we ask the UN to fire him, and search for a replacement imme-"

"Silence, Fuyutsuki," Gendo roared. The vice-commander immediately stopped in his track. Shiro merely watched, stunned.

"Mr. Shiro," Gendo spoke with a casual, apologetic tone. "I must apologize for my subordinate's indiscretion. He is but an old military man, and is thus suspicious of subterfuge by default. He is not used to the value of a businessman's reputation, or the necessity of trust and information flow between affiliates!"

Shiro was lost for words. For a moment, the room was silent while the CEO collected his thoughts. "Mr. Gendo, are you saying that you do?"

"Pardon me, if you will," Gendo continued, "but I have a proposition for you to consider. You see, as it stands there are 3 entities with a stake in our discussion today: NERV, IPEA, and the JHCI. You have an interest in the JHCI's wellbeing and, now that you're head of IPEA, your reputation compels you to look out for the agency's interest as well. It goes without saying that the two are now essentially in collaboration. With IPEA's technology and JHCI's infrastructure, their joint effort will surely hook them quite a prey."

"Quite," Shiro nodded.

"Fuyutsuki and I, on the other hand, are primarily affiliated with NERV. We have a history of affiliation with IPEA and, at a fundamental level, the two agency share a great deal of interest as well. NERV needs the Evangelion to continue protecting mankind, and IPEA needs NERV to continue having a purpose. In that sense, one could say that IPEA wouldn't exist without NERV, and NERV would cease to exist without IPEA"

"Indeed."

"What I am proposing to you, then, is a way for NERV and JHCI to both directly share an interest with each other. Both your and my agencies have resources which would be most beneficial to each other. If we can reach a point of collaboration, we would complete the trio and leave no conflicts of interest in the quest of mankind's prosperity. See where this line of thought is heading?"

"Hmm…" Shiro perked up. "Intriguing. What exactly do you have in mind?"

Gendo grinned. "It is no secret that the Eva, as it stands, has several exploitable weaknesses. I'm sure you already know this, but presently Eva has some issues regarding mobility and modularity. Without the umbilical cord, the Eva can function in combat for no more than 5-minutes. Furthermore, we have always been dependent on our pilots and their sync-ratio. Even as humanoid as the Eva appear, they are not human and thus we are forced to use run a translation schema whenever the pilot's direct neural interface isn't exactly 100%. While Magi compensates for this to a degree, there is much room for improvement in the schema itself."

"Right. So how can JHCI help with this?"

"I read Fuyutsuki report on your Jet Alone program. An on board energy source that guarantees unlimited operational range? Imagine if the Eva never runs out of power! Furthermore JA is a complex bi-pedal humanoid robot, and you're capable of completely controlling its motion using conventional computers from a cut-off location? You must have an amazing control algorithm to make up for the processing power and the lag! If only we could implement it into the entry plug of the Eva!"

"So you're saying that, if JHCI focuses on implementing our technology to improve existing Eva, while IPEA work on producing newer, better models in general, NERV will be more than a match for any Angel that might this way come?"

"Precisely," Gendo answered.

"So then…" Shiro resumed. "What's in it for us? What are you offering the JHCI?"

"Why the satisfaction of saving mankind, of course," Gendo grinned, "and if that isn't enough: know that you have a glaring weakness which NERV can cover for as well. In fact, I've already mention it."

"Perhaps? In passing?" Shiro remarked. "There's a difference between mutual and common knowledge. Go ahead and make it common."

"Compared to NERV, your computer technology is absolutely inadequate. You are still running on silicon chips, resulting in massive loss in performance, power-consumption and other logistical nightmare. NERV, on the other hand, has the Magi. Actually, we have several Magi all over the world, and I wouldn't mind if our ally wound up with one of them. In fact, we have one at the Matsushiro Secondary Experimentation Facility which, aside from assisting with the shakedown activation, will be doing mostly nothing until the next round of Eva comes in. Why don't you go see how versatile they are in person tomorrow? If you find the Matsushiro Magi quite impressive, I'll even sink her into our deal with JHCI; on top of general bio-computer principle and know how, of course.

"Commander!" Fuyutsuki balked. "What are you saying?! Please reconside-"

"Deal," Shiro cut him off.

In truth, he had been planning to offer Gendo a similar deal since he arrived. After reading the IPEA files and paper, he knew that the Eva had weaknesses which NERV was dying to overcome. He had been hoping to use it as leverage; possibly to trade for data related to the A.T. Field, exclusive rights to supply NERV munitions or even the rights to use Tokyo-3's Eva tunnel for some enterprising scheme. Though he had no intentions of reneging on a deal, Shiro would be trading a presently non-existent product for real and concrete objects usable today. It would have been a pretty good trade.

He never dreamed he would get the Magi in exchanged. Shiro knew a steal when he saw one. He wasn't going to slip up.

Gendo reached out his hand, and Shiro eagerly shook it. "How should we draw up the contract?" The CEO questioned. "I'm sure we can get a third-party to vouch it for us? Perhaps one of the lawyers from the UN?"

"Unnecessary complications," Gendo remarked – hands still firm on Shiro's. "Go ahead and draw one up yourself. If you can get it around to me by tonight, I'll read it personally and sign it through if there's nothing egregious. There's no need to mistrust or second guess each other; we're in this together and we have the same goal after all."

"Indeed," Shiro said. "The prosperity of mankind. With our partnership, there is no doubt we shall see it through."

With that, Shiro broke the handshake and got up from his chair. Sparing Fuyutsuki – who was still frozen in place – but a moment's glance, Shiro gave Gendo a bow and gestured towards the door.

"It was a pleasure talking to you," the business man spoke. "Right now, though, I'm afraid I should be going; there's more to do now than I expected! I'll need to arrange my travels to Matsushiro tomorrow, and I'll also need to move my workspace down here since we'll be working on the old Evas. I'm sorry about this, but could we make the tour of Central Dogma a quick one?"

"Not a problem," Gendo answered. "I'll ask our science officer to give you the brief overview. Fuyutsuki, Maya is already on standby, yes? Have her come in and escort Mr. Shiro at once."

Shiro exchanged a few more pleasantries with Gendo before Maya arrived to escort him out. As he moved through the bowels of Central Dogma, seeing such sights as the cage or the Pribnow box, Shiro barely noticed any of his surroundings. On his mind, there was only one thing in perfect focus.

_Gendo Ikari_, the business man observe. _Truly a fearsome man. He was everything I expected him to be and more. Our joint venture shall be one for the record books._

* * *

Gendo Ikari observed as the business man left his office, and motioned towards Fuyutsuki. The old man was still pale and somewhat shaken. "You can cut the act now, Kozo. The greedy fool has left and you're not pulling one over me."

Immediately life seemed to flow back into the vice-commander, though it was a sickening kind of life. The kind that fueled djinns and demons as they play tricks around their mortal prey.

"That went exactly as you planned, did it not?" Fuyutsuki stated rather than asked.

"Of course. Now we have the extremely capable JHCI working for us, and we essentially got it all for free."

Fuyutsuki nodded, and thought back to his last conversation with Gendo. Though they had offered Shiro the Magi today, in reality it didn't matter one bit. The biological supercomputer was theirs', forever and ever.

After a brief moment, the second-commander returned to his usual, placid self. "I guess the only question, then, is what we plan to do with the JSSDF. They're receiving transfer of the Longinus Spear this evening, right?"

"They're moving it to their facility in Gotenba," Gendo replied. "Close enough to us that it can be flown over should an Angelic crisis arise, but far enough away that they're beyond NERV's sphere of influence."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to have them poking into our Spear of Longinus?"

"Not to worry, Fuyutsuki. Though they may be able to replicate the spear's property, there is no way they can reproduce the spear itself. They are only human, after all."

"Humans can only interact with it via the Evangelions…" Fuyutsuki mused. "Ritsuko Akagi really hit the nail on the head with her final conjecture."

"That's because she figured out the situation," Gendo responded, "and because you and I already know the situation as well. Again, the conjecture is nothing to worry about. Excluding the two of us, there is nobody left alive in the world who could figure out its true meaning on their own."

"I wish I had your confidence, Ikari. About the activations tomorrow then."

"Unit-03's core was accepted with no complications," Gendo spoke. "Though I will need to head down and prepare Unit-04's myself in just a little bit. It will ship out along with Misato and our operator crew."

"No one will find it suspicious?"

"The decision to field Unit-04 immediately was made with haste. None would be the wiser if some pieces of equipment took longer to arrive than another. Speaking of which, tell me about this colleague coming to join you. The flight from NERV-2 was delayed by bad weather and missed the convoy, so I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet."

Fuyutsuki nodded. "It was convenient that he's the only senior scientist at NERV-2. Having him supervise Unit-04's transfer was all the excuse we needed to bring him to Tokyo-3. That the Eva will also arrive in pristine condition is not a small bonus either! You are familiar with Dr. Seymour Nunn, of course?"

Gendo pondered for a moment. "I recall the name from the Second Impact cover-up story years ago. I take it you've worked with him a fair bit since?"

"He will be of great help with the Dummy plug and our daily science operation," Fuyutsuki replied. "Now that Ritsuko is gone, I highly urge you to keep him around. Bump him up to chief of science, if you need to. I'm sure Maya wouldn't mind being passed over – infact, she might be quite relieved."

"Perhaps," Gendo responded. "I will reserve my judgment until I see him myself. Now then, I shall be heading to Terminal Dogma for a bit. Unit-04's core requires its finishing touch."

Gendo stood up, and pulled open a drawer in his desk. A duralumin case lay within; pulsing with energy. The commander slipped it within his coat.

"How did no one on your flight notice that thing?" Fuyutsuki asked, partly in jest. "I can feel it from where I'm standing. I don't care if you had it locked in a block of cement; surely the other passengers felt something. How did you hide it from security?"

Gendo chuckled as he moved towards the door; a conniving and subtle chuckle. "Pish posh, Fuyutsuki. I had it in plain sight, along with the rest of my carry-on. Recall, though, that it was a NERV mandated flight. As long as I'm wearing my suit and my ID card, nobody bats an eyelid if there's a couple pieces of suspicious luggage about."

* * *

The setting sun bathed the city of Tokyo-3 in brilliant vermillion; heralding the coming dusk. In front of Tokyo-3's First Municipal Middle School, a young, freckled, twin-tailed class representative stood; twiddling her thumb. _It can't take much longer now_, she thought.

Earlier that morning, when Hikari discovered that the three stooges had invited the transfer student up for lunch, she immediately identified three problems. The first two, concerning with the boisterous Kensuke and the discordant Shinji, was mostly professional and involved making sure the new girl wasn't bullied down into submission. These were no grave concerns to Hikari; she was an excellent class rep and completely peerless at keeping the peace between her peers. By the end of the meal, Mana seems to have gotten the feel for the stooges, and handled herself pretty well. It looks like Hikari won't need to look out for this new transfer anymore. She is already set on the road to becoming fast friends with Shinji and Co., as frightening as the prospect was.

As frightening as the prospect was, indeed.

Try as she might, there was no easy way for Hikari to dodge around her problem number three. Unlike the first two, this one was more personal in nature, and have actually compounded now that the initial problems resolved the way it did. In fact, with the revelation made during their meal, problem number three had become a bigger worry than she ever expected.

_Why did it have to be him_? Hikari thought. _And just as a new transfer comes in as well!_ _The timing is so terrible. There's no way he won't be conscious of the new girl, and there's no way she won't be conscious of the new ace pilot. How does sometimes-friendly-but-most-times-bossy class-rep even begin to fight against that?_

After the meal, Hikari had bemoaned her troubles to Asuka. Her teacher/friend/confidant, ever one to cheer her up, had suggested that Hikari make the first move.

"The dolt probably isn't even aware of new standing yet," Asuka had said, "and more importantly, the rest of the students isn't aware of it either. You've known him for ages and you're just about the only girl he'd directly talk to, right? If I asked you which girl is highest on his affection chart and you point to anyone but yourself, I will call you a blind idiot. What are you waiting for? Go for it!"

Hikari took a deep breath. The school officials, so closely affiliated with NERV, was already aware of Toji's assignment – and had asked him to stay behind to settle some affairs. Even though tomorrow was Saturday, the boy was anticipated to miss several days of class in the near future and – compounded with rather delinquent record – required certain countermeasures be instantiated. Still, it was all taking longer than she expected, and Hikari can only pretend to review the class-rep's roster so many times before she got bored. Still, a girl's determination will not be so easily defeated, and thus Hikari had decided to throw away all pretenses and straight up wait for him outside the front gates. It was fortunate that most students have already left for the weekends; nothing is blatant if no one is around to see it.

"Oy! Class-rep! What're you still doing around here?"

Hikari felt a shot of cold run up her spine. Turning around, the girl breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Toji Suzuhara approach her from inside the school.

"Toji! I've… been meaning to talk to you actually."

The boy tilted his head, then smiled. "That's perfect, actually. I've been meaning to talk to you as well. Let's walk."

In the gentle evening sky, the boy and the girl slowly started down the hills in front of their school. For a while, naught but the buzzing of cicadas broke the silence.

"What was it you wanted to talk about?" Hikari started, shyly.

"I wanted to thank you," Toji spoke. Holding his bag in both hands behind his head, the boy looked straight ahead as he walked down the road.

"Eh?"

"About that time during the Angel attack, when I was buried and you and Kensuke tried to dig me out?" Toji continued. "Even after we realized how pointless it was, you stuck around with me until second section turned up. I saw how busted up your hands looked, too. You hurt yourself trying to help me and you really didn't need to do all that."

Hikari turned to look at the boy, and saw that he was looking at her as well. For an instance, their gaze locked – until Toji abruptly broke it and looked aside.

"Well…" the boy continued. "I guess I never got round to properly say it. I just wanted to say I really appreciate you… thanks."

Hikari smiled. She couldn't help poking him in the ribs.

"Ow!" the boy croaked.

"Don't be silly," Hikari jeered. "For you, I'd do it a thousand times over."

For a while longer, the two continued walking.

"What did you want to talk about," Toji finally countered.

"Well," Hikari mumbled. _Come on nerve. Don't let up on me now._

"I wanted to ask you about this afternoon," she finally managed. "I know you've known about it for a while now, but I just found out and it's still a little surprising. Why are you doing it?"

"Eh?" Toji looked at her, puzzled. "Why am I doing what?"

"Why are you piloting the Eva?"

Toji looked up at the sky, and took a deep breath. "You know, I've been asking myself that a lot in the last few days. At first, I only did it because they agreed to move my sister to a better hospital. In retrospect, though, I think that wasn't the whole story. I think there was something else in there as well."

"Something else?" Hikari echoed.

"I'm no stranger to Eva. Heck, three of my so called friends are NERV pilots and they're all bonkers in the head. It was actually one of them that hurt my sister in the first place. In that sense, I didn't really have a reason to like them."

"Are you resentful of them?"

"Hardly, actually. It was after I was buried during Wakamoru, and once more when I saw the battle during Yashima, that I realized something. Whatever it is that made the Children pilot their Eva, there was a room for me somewhere there as well. It might not be the first, the second, or even the third reason why they do it. But somewhere in there, they were fighting for humanity and thus, indirectly, they were fighting for me as well."

Hikari glanced at the boy, who was still staring up at the clouds. Toji continued.

"When I figured that out, I thought about how I'm probably fighting to protect my sister as well. But then during lunch, Mana was talking about Wakamoru and how it was an honor for her to serve; about the bonds she shared with her comrades in the regiment. That's when I realized that my sister wasn't the only one I would be fighting for."

Suddenly, Toji stopped walking and turned around to look directly at her. His expression was set, his eyes determined.

"I'd fight to protect you as well," Toji spoke.

Hikari felt her face heating up. She had no doubt she was redder than Unit-02 right now, but still. Looking at the boy and seeing his passion, there was no way she could shy away. "But…aren't you scared?

"I don't mind if I occasionally get hurt." Toji declared. "I'll fight to protect you, my sister, and Kensuke. I'll fight to protect my father, and the rest of humanity as well. You showed me that helping people who are precious to you is the right thing to do, even if you might get hurt while you're at it. Now it's my turn. Now I have a chance to protect the people precious to me as well. That's why I'm stepping inside Unit-03 tomorrow. I would wear the mark of shame forever I ran away now."

And with that, the boy began to deflate; the air in his gusto finally exhausted.

"Ahh, I hope that answered your question," Toji moaned. He immediately started walking away once again. "That's embarrassing. Don't take it too seriously though – that's what I arrived at this afternoon, after thinking about what you did. Ask me again in a couple days and I'll probably have changed my mind."

Hikari watched as the boy walked off, before smiling brim to brim. Chuckling as she sprinted after, Hikari poked Toji in the ribs once more.

"Ow! That hurts! Knock it off!"

"You're one big damn hero, aren't you?" Hikari giggled as she starts to run ahead of Toji. "But I don't dislike that about you."

Toji stopped in his track once more. "Eh?! What you say?!"

"I said I don't dislike you!" Hikari turned around. "Listen, you're a big eater, right? I always hear you going on about how magical lunch time is. Well, I'm pretty confident about my cooking skills myself."

Toji gawked. "Are you saying that you-"

"So when you get back," Hikari cut him off, "I'll prepare a big bento box, just for you. I don't mind making you lunch every day from now on, but first you've gotta come back to me in once piece, ok? Absolutely have to come back if you want my bento!"

And with that, Hikari sprinted ahead and rounded a corner. The girl didn't know what expression to make. She'd done it now. She'd gone and made it mutual knowledge, if not a straight up common one.

The setting sun bathed the city of Tokyo-3 in brilliant vermillion; heralding the coming dusk. But for one Hikari Horaki, it might as well have been the dawn of a new day.

* * *

_Due to the difficulty conveying the author's comment on this chapter, I shall relay his words exactly._

"_Aww, isn't that just sweet. Guhehe. Guhehehehe."_

_I should note right now that my author has never written romance before. He'd never written much fiction, period. Was this too cheesy? Should he had written in some whine to wash down the aftertaste? Does anyone here like Provel? Let the author know in a review._


	15. Kangaroo court

A Cognitive Bias is a pattern of deviation in judgment, whereby inferences of the situation may be drawn in an illogical fashion. Biases occur when a person's internal model of reality (the map) deviates from the actual reality itself (the territory). Presumably originating from evolutionary psychology, where the use of heuristics as an approximation of reality can be more timely and efficient than an exhaustive rational choice theory analysis, cognitive bias can lead to irrationality in situations where the map is misleading or insufficient. Fortunately they can be overcome, which motivates our development of exercises to aid in reducing cognitive biases.

-_- Classified Information File#0013529-C, item 05. "Overcoming Bias: how to be less wrong"; Security clearance level 3: Classified Information_

* * *

A single beam of spotlight shown down from above, illuminating a sharply dressed boy of 14. The spiffy teenager, wearing a dark maroon suit, sat nervously behind a table. Piles of important looking documents cover the face of his desk except for a small square of space where the boy was busily jotting down notes. Satisfied that he was ready, Shinji Ikari looked up from his writing and out into devouring black.

From the darkness, the thunderous noise of a gavel coming down once… twice…

The dapper youth rose up from his chair, and silently rounded to the front of his desk. A gentle clearing of the throat. Shinji Ikari took a deep breath, calmed his nerves, and prepared to address the darkness before him.

"Your honor," said the boy. As if on cue, a new beam of light flicked on – revealing before him a courtroom bench. In the judge's seat sat another Shinji Ikari, though this one appeared chubbier and was wearing a gaudy ceremonial robe. Judge Shinji nodded once to acknowledgement his lither twin.

"Gentlemen of the jury," the dapper Shinji continued. Lights up on cue again on to reveal a row of chairs to his right. Several identical Shinjii, wearing his trademark school uniform, nodded in unison.

"May it please the court to consider the case of the Angels, the Evangelion and the A.T. field. It is obvious that these form the solution to the Akagi-Ikari conjecture. If we consider their interaction as evidence of DIVINE property, then-"

"Objection!"

A slamming sound echoed out from the darkness. Just as everyone turned towards the source of the noise, another beam of light lit up to reveal an equally well dressed, equally dapper Shinji Ikari standing up behind his equally cluttered desk – though this one seems to be wearing navy blue instead of red.

"Granted, Mr. Prosecutor," Judge Shinji spoke, before sighing in resignation. "Try to be gentle, though. The Defense Lawyer can't help his nature sometimes."

"Yes, your honor," Prosecutor Shinji replied. Smiling, he turned towards Dl Shinji and pointed out an accusatory finger. "The defense is stating his conclusion without first explaining his reasoning. He is skipping straight to the bottom line, then filling in the levels above with rationalizations carefully chosen to fit his conclusion. The prosecution request that he outlines his reasoning step-by-step from the top down, subject to our inquisition and the judgment of the jury."

Hoots and cheers of approval from the Shinjis in the jury.

"Are you kidding me?!" Dl Shinji replied, though beads of sweat began to form on his brows. "We're trying to defend our position: of course we have to state what position it is we're defending! Any scientist worth his salt must state a hypothesis before proceeding. How can we make any progress if we're prohibited from guessing in the first place?"

"The objection stands," Judge Shinji interjected, dismissing the red-suited defense lawyer with a wave. "It is true that scientists need a hypothesis before proceeding, but that is no excuse for guessing up bad one. We're not talking about a wrong hypothesis here, but ones that are straight up untestable; ones that aren't even wrong! As such, the defense is compelled to explain the situation clearly – using observed realities to arrive at his proposed hypothesis. At that point, the defense will propose a test of falsification, one which can disprove his position if carried out successfully. Only when the prosecution finds your hypothesis testable, only when you've shown that there's a way to check your theory against reality. Only then will external Shinji Ikari even attempt to see if it is actually correct."

"What madness is this?!" Dl Shinji decried, clutching his head in fustration. "Am I in some kind of Kangaroo court? You're prohibiting me from stating my hypothesis, but rather to explain my entire case in a vacuum. Even _then_, you won't believe me until the prosecution had his share at poking holes through my explanation! That's not fair! That's not how a real court works!"

"And this is not a real court!" Judge Shinji countered. "This is a Socratic exercise, an abstract depiction of how you attempt to resolve your confusion and figure out what the hell is really going on. Reality isn't fair, thus neither is our criterion. It is only the weakest, the simplest, the most failure prone explanation that, despite a sincere test to deny it, cannot be denied. That is minimal criterion for painting an acceptable picture of situation. Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away!"

The blue-suited prosecutor sneered; both hands turned up as he shrugged. "Unlike a real court, this is all happening in your head and thus, we expect a certain standard. There's no room for jumping to conclusions here, boy."

Red Shinji curses in frustration as he turns around to shuffle his paperwork. Words like 'cheating', 'rigged' and 'Star Chamber' was liberally thrown about.

The judge looks upon the Dl and, seeing his conundrum, couldn't help feeling a bit of mercy. Coughing for his attention, the judge began speaking in a gentle, soothing tone. "Now, now. I know this is new to you and all, but every gut feeling we come upon has to go through this vetting process. It's nothing personal, humans are just terrible at building good intuition; that's why they say we suffer cognitive biases. Oy, Mr. Prosecutor! Knock that grin off your face and help the young'un out a little"

Prosecutor Shinji looked at the judge, sniggered under his breath, then nefariously turned to face the Dl. "Yeah. Lisen kiddo. It's not your fault Shinji is human and can't overcome two-million years of evolution save his life. That's why we're here, in this court. We're just trying to minimize his un-rigorous assumptions before he hurts himself."

The rows of Shinjii in the jury coughs in unison. "We resent that," they said in perfect synchronicity.

"Anyways," the Judge interrupted. "The take-away here is that we're in this to help you. Since it's your first time, why don't you start from the top and explain the situation we're facing. That should give us a good start. Tell us what we know and how we think we know it."

Dl Shinji considers the word of advice, then slowly began to collect himself. "Thank you your honor. May it please the court?"

The Judge nodded his approval, so DA Shinji began once more. "Let us start from the Akagi-Ikari conjecture. To make sure everyone is on the same page, may I distributed an extract from chapter 12 of the case-file archive, specifically the section concerning file# 0013529-D, item 13. Please refer back to this document whenever the exact nature of the conjecture is in question."

The Dl snaps his finger and instantly a piece of paper pops into existence in front of the prosecutor, the judge and each member of the jury.

"If we consider the significance of Ritsuko's DIVINE property, and compare it to what we've observed in reality, we will note that-"

"Objection!"

Dl Shinji eyes the prosecutor with disdain. "Mr. Prosecutor, what problem could you possibly have with my assertions so far? I was explaining how Ritsuko's conjecture lead to my hypothesis. Isn't that exactly what you've been asking me to do?"

"What this court has asked," Prosecutor Shinji replied, holding the piece of paper in his left hand and tapping it with his right, "was for you to start from the top; something which you certainly did not do. The Akagi-Ikari conjecture? How do you know it wasn't gibberish? The ravings of a mad woman who had, in life, tried her darnest to hid the insanity deep within? How do you know the conjecture is worth anything at all, and how do you think you know it?"

"You have got to be kidding me," the Dl responded. "How on earth am I supposed to answer that? Ritsuko is dead. I can't exactly phone her up and ask if she was secretly off her rockers!"

A loud guffawing sound emanated from Judge Shinji, who seems to be immensely enjoying himself. "Why do you think you cannot? Anyways, for the problem we are facing, there is no reason we have to bother Ritsuko herself. In fact, the Prosecutor and I pretty much agree with you that the Akagi-Ikari conjecture is important."

Prosecutor Shinji shrugged. "As your senior, I'm objecting on this topic for your sake. I'm trying to provide you an exercise: a chance to teach you how things work around here. Besides, if you can't even show that the conjecture is important, how will you ever have a chance with its interpretation at all?"

As much as the two senior Shinji persona were enjoying themselves, Dl Shinji was thoroughly miffed. "Oh yeah?" he finally spoke. "If you think it's so easy, why don't you show me how it's done, _Senpai_. Show me why you think this isn't all a bunch of royal nonesuch."

The Prosecutor smiled. "You honor, I'd like to call in our first witness."

Dl Shinji blinked, before looking around at the vast empty space. Except for the judge, the jury, the prosecutor and himself, the defense attorney could see nothing else except for endless swaths of blackness, "Witness? Your honor, we can have witnesses in here?"

The Judge smiles knowingly. "Of course we can. Things work a little differently around here, but we can still check up on our situational comprehension."

The prosecutor smirked as he walks up to the Dl, a pad of paper in his hand. "Relax. You're new at this, so it's supposed to be a learning experience for you as well. For now, just take this notepad and sit down. You might wanna take notes."

After a few seconds, Dl Shinji took the notepad from his companion; though not without a healthy serving of skepticism. The boy looked at the pad, observed that the Akagi-Ikari conjecture was hand-written out on the first page, and then rounded his table to take a seat. He'd barely placed his weight on the chair when suddenly…

* * *

"_Give me that!" [Fuyutsuki Kozo] yelled; snatching the note pad from the boy with so much force, it left a small paper cut on Shinji's thumb._

_[…] After a couple seconds, the second commander handed the pad back to Shinji and started typing madly on the computer keyboard. A log-in screen booted up. Despite trying several things, Fuyutsuki couldn't get in. Access denied._

_Fuyutsuki got up and immediately started for the door_

_[…]_

"_Do not lose that notepad!" The old man said as he darted into the hall. "I'm getting Section Two to help us into her computer. If there's any more of that note already typed up, we need to get it!"_

_And with that, the second commander was gone._

* * *

And with that, the second commander was gone.

Dl Shinji stared dumbfounded, his mouth agape with surprise. "What… what the hell was that?"

The prosecutor smiled. "That was Vice-commander Fuyutsuki Kozo. He made quite a scene when he saw the conjecture back then."

Dl Shinji didn't respond.

"What?" the Prosecutor prodded, "You were expecting him to turn up and sit down for questioning? We're inside your head! We can't call on people to answer questions we don't already know the answer to: that would be preposterous! We can, on the other hand, call on our memories, and that'll play back for us with as high a fidelity as we can remember. Our witness is always ourselves, but just like your memories some are more reliable than others."

Dl Shinji kept his silence. After a moment he loosened his tie, undid his top button, and took a deep breath.

"Ahaha," Prosecutor Shinji laughed. "You'll get used to it; even get a chance to do it to me soon enough! It's really usefully when you want to prove a point. Anyways, the point I wanted to get across is that Fuyutsuki thought it was important and he, of all people, should know. He's so much more inside knowledge than us, it's essentially part of his job description."

"And unless we can ask Ristuko ourselves," Judge Shinji continued, "by that I mean really ask her, and not just a ghost left in our memory, Fuyutsuki's reaction is about as good as we're going to get. This is an appeal to authority to a certain degree, but it does suggestively wink and nudge us towards the conclusion that Ritsuko is onto something with her conjecture. Of course, we could solve the conjecture and that'll tell us the answer too, but that's why you're here… Shinji? Defense lawyer Shinji Ikari!"

"Huh?" Dl Shinji suddenly snapped back to attention. "I was… ah… oh!"

The blue-suited boy fixed his necktie.

"Your honor, excuse me. For a moment there, I was overwhelmed by a deluge of new possibilities that just opened up to me. I must apologize for my rudeness."

The Prosecutor grinned. "Possibilities, eh? Let's hear it."

"Your honor," Defense lawyer Shinji finally stood up, a new fire ignited in his countenance. "I have a new proposition to make, and this time-"

The boy turned slyly towards his foil, the prosecutor.

"-this time I shall be using the method of induction."

* * *

The CRT monitor turned off, and Prosecutor Shinji puts down his remote control. Two court attendants, Shinjii wearing bored, forlorn looks, wheeled the multimedia cart and the CRT screen off into the darkness.

"That concludes archival footage from our session two weeks ago," the Prosecutor spoke. "At that time, our new Dl proposed a model of the situation using the method of induction. It was a fascinating proposition, but as external Shinji has shown via Operation Pequod, it is completely wrong and untenable."

"I'm in despair," Dl Shinji's gaze drifted emptily into the distance. "The unfairness of this mental space has left me in despair."

"Perhaps understanding the timeline might help you out a little," Judge Shinji suggested. "Mr. Prosecutor, could you explain to the DA _when_ it is we're having this conversation?"

"Of course, your honor," the Prosecutor bowed, before turning vehemently to face the cowering Dl. "You see, whenever someone – say external Shinji Ikari – is deep in thought, it is _implied_ that a Socratic dialogue like this one plays out in his head; though often times not in as much detail. These dialogues happen at the speed of thought which, for actors like us, is as long as we need it to be, but for the world outside could be really slow or fast or even nigh instantaneous. Now, since it is Shinji who held these dialogues, he must obviously remember having them and thus we can call on previous ones to play back with impunity; just like when we're summoned witnesses."

For a moment, the Prosecutor pause; tilting his head upward in thought. "I guess that explains _how_ it works, but not quite _when. _Well the exact _when_ doesn't really matter. All that matters is that it's sometime after Operation Pequod, where your proposition was showed to be full of hot air after all. Fair enough?"

"No!" the Dl countered, clutching his head in frustration. "Still not fair! So what if I know it's now sometime after Operation Pequod? That doesn't explain why my model failed one single bit! How can my model be wrong? In fact, you didn't even show what my model was in that video!"

"The video shows you proclaiming to use the method of induction," the Prosecutor replied. "Nothing more needs to be said from that point."

"Gaah!" the Dl could no longer hold back a scream. "I was using THE method of induction, for crying out loud! It's a process of inferring natural orders from observed phenomenon; a pattern recognition technique used by scientists every day! We already know that, by summoning witnesses, I can recall events from memory with high fidelity. There's no way I saw an incorrect pattern!"

The Prosecutor and the Judge looked at each other, before letting out a synchronous sigh.

"See here now," Judge Shinji began explaining, "If I told you the sun rises in the morning, and that as far back as any existing human record can prove, it has always done so without fail. Would that be reason enough to believe that the sun will rise tomorrow morning?"

"What kind of question is that?" Dl Shinji answered. "Of course the sun will rise tomorrow."

"No!" the Judge yelled. "You are right that the sun will rise tomorrow, but _not_ because the sun has done so for the past few million years! You are right because we define morning relative to the position of the sun, and it is a good definition because the position of the sun changes regularly due to the Earth's rotation about itself. The fact that the sun has always risen isn't rigorous enough a reason for it to rise again tomorrow; the fact that the Earth revolves around itself, on the other hand, is."

"Likewise, merely observing that the sun has risen every morning is not enough to realize that the Earth must revolve around itself," the Prosecutor chimed. "You take it for granted now, but for most of human civilization we didn't know that the earth revolved around itself, let alone that it was round. Someone, somewhere, needed to figure these things out, and they most certainly did not do so by just watching the sun come up every day; they didn't do it by pattern recognition."

"So what does this have to do with the method of Induction?" Dl Shinji questioned.

"Inferring that the sun rises because it has always done so _is_ the method of induction," the Judge responded. "You might get a correct answer, but you're getting it for the wrong reason: and induct as much as you want, you'll never get the right reason just from watching the sun rises alone. Likewise, you could use induction on the past history of mankind minus-fifteen-years, and you would think aliens have never visited earth before; then Second Impact would prove you wrong! That is why, contrary to popular belief, the method of induction is _not_ a part of a scientist's toolbox. Mere pattern matching is _not_ rigorous enough a method of learning about reality! To make matters worse, for most of human civilization, pattern recognition made people say the sun has always risen, so it must rise tomorrow as well. In retrospect that's so nonsensical it's not even wrong!"

"That is why we need say no more once you've declared that you used induction," the Prosecutor concluded. "The methodology was flawed, and thus your conclusion is no longer guaranteed valid. Maybe you said something like: "Ritsuko's DIVINE object can only be acted on by others with DIVINE property. Angels have an impenetrable wall that can only be crumbled by Eva's A.T. Field ability. Therefore the pattern match and there must be an equivalence relation." That's wrong. Asuka used the Spear of Longinus at range during Operation Pequod without A.T. Field support. That conclusively shows there's no one-to-one equivalence between A.T. Field and DIVINE objects."

"And with that, your proposition is open and closed," the Judge decreed. "If you have no further comment, Mr. Prosecutor, I'll asked that the defense come up with a new position to defend. We need to be moving forward, after all."

Dl Shinji slumps back in his seat, clutching his head in despair. The boy felt cheated. There was nothing fair about this affair; rather it felt like he had been set up to fail from the start. And now they were demanding that he come up with something new before they can move forward. Probably so they can tear him a new one again, the two sick sadistic bastard son of a bi-

Hold on. Before they can move forward?

"Wait a second," Dl Shinji snapped, noticing something unusual. "You keep hammering on me that I'm wrong, that my models are fallacious beyond belief. If that's the case, then how did external Shinji ever get as far as Operation Pequod? Wouldn't you two have vetoed me to hell and made external Shinji do nothing except spiral into confusion?"

And suddenly time seems to pause, as though the sun has finally set for the last time. A cold night wind blew through the empty blackness; the Judge and the Prosecutor looked sheepishly at each other, then began shivering as they looked at everything except the Dl.

"Guys… what are you not telling me?"

"We…" began Judge Shinji. "We might have…"

"Cheated… a little." Prosecutor Shinji finished.

If the sun didn't rise tomorrow, it would be because DA Shinji had absorbed it to fuel his rage.

"Would you kindly," the Dl started – an icy bite in his word. "Would you kindly tell me, EXACTLY, what it is you guys did?"

The two culprits still hesitated, but it was prosecutor Shinji that caught the Dl's gaze of death first.

"You. Speak. Now."

"Well…" the Prosecutor began. "How should I say this? I guess a little introduction is in order."

"Get to the point."

"Patience, please, although I know it's not in your nature to do so," the Judge interrupted. "Now then, introductions."

"I'm Shinji's internal prosecutor," Prosecutor Shinji spoke. "I'm his critical analyzer, and I check for perfection in his internal rationalization. I've been with him for a while now. Thanks to his childhood, Shinji relies on me regularly and, in that sense, I'm pretty well developed."

"I'm his Judge," Judge Shinji continued. "I'm the processor for his daily cognitive process; the mediator he relies on whenever he interacts with other people. It's my job to enforce societal laws, to make sure Shinji doesn't turn into a robot or a wild beast."

"In that sense, you can use Freud's model of the psyche and call me the Super-ego," the Prosecutor chimed in. "The Judge, being a mediator between us and everything else in the external world, is – of course – the Ego."

"Please to meet you," the chubby Judge bowed. "And of course, by now, you've probably realized who you are."

For a moment, Dl Shinji merely stared.

"But…but…" he slowly started as realization dawned on him. "I'm the Id?! I'm Shinji Ikari's goddamn Id?! I'm his ball of rage and frustrated libido?! Are you kidding me?!"

"Easy now," the Ego tried to calm him down. "You're his primal instincts and raw emotions, but you're also his intuition and pattern recognition center."

The Super-ego nodded. "That's why you were so fixated on induction. That's why you were always jumping straight down to the bottom line. And that's what the id is supposed to do – it made sure external Shinji survives in a prehistoric stone-age world where there's no time and everything was trying to eat us."

"Then where have I been all this time?" the Id complained. "Why does it feel like I've just come into existence here, in this courtroom, not two weeks ago?"

"That's because you've been shackled up by his training," the Ego answered. "For various reason, external Shinji doesn't really trust his intuition. Much. Don't get me wrong, to a certain degree you've always been around: you're the one who keeps him up when he's confused or upset. Still, he deliberately avoided giving you too much characterization; avoided giving you too much power."

"As it stands though, we're facing a most unusual situation," the Super-ego continued. "Shinji is good with reasoning and situational interpretation. Most of his deductions so far relied on understanding social norms – that's the Ego job – realizing when those norms are irrational and therefore better to see things with fresh eyes: that's where I come in. The crux of all this, though, is that the judge and I like to take our time."

"The Angels have pretty much defied all laws or interpretation one could find in existing science," the Ego assisted. "The two of us have been working overtime to crack their mysteriousness. For everything else, we're forced to rely on heuristics; approximation approach which are less accurate but more efficient to build in the first place. That's where you come in. We need your raw power of instincts and pattern matching, which admittedly served us pretty well too during Operation Yashima. The Super-ego is good at his job. He's good enough to know when he isn't good enough; when he needs to defer to the intuitive side like you."

"With Ritsuko's death, the discovery of her posthumous conjecture, and the situation surrounding the Spear of Longinus, there's too much going on and I'm forced to admit that we need you around," the Super-ego admitted. "We haven't relied on you very often, though, so the Judge decided you needed to be tempered a little bit. That's why we're running this courtroom schema. That's why we can call on our memories as witnesses."

"Essentially," the Ego concluded, spreading his arm to indicate the space around them, "this whole thing is an exercise to teach you when instincts isn't enough; when it's worth it to defer back to me."

Shinji's Id took a second to soak it in. In a way, things started to make a lot of sense to him. This court schema was, after all, a ploy to bring out his weakest aspect. Trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, or judging a fish on its ability to climb trees, and it'll come as no surprise when they fail.

"I have a question," Dl Shinji asked. "You still haven't told me how external Shinji put together Operation Pequod."

"Ah, about that," the Judge smiles. "You have the Prosecutor to thank for that."

"We took what you said about A.T. Field and Angels, then formulated a testable prediction out of that." The Prosecutor answered. "We essentially said that, if what you said was right, then the Spear of Longinus – which doesn't have an A.T. Field – would be completely useless against an Angel on its own. Although most people were convinced that, in Yashima's aftermath, the Spear was an anti-Angel weapon, there was still a possibility that an Eva's A.T. Field was required for it to work. That Unit-02 can kill the Angel at great range – much greater than her A.T. Field can interfere – pretty much settles the matter."

"This kind of verification is what the Super-ego is good at," the Judge spoke. "But we needed some initial intuition from the Id side, that's you, to make it work. We were going to reveal it all to you once you've matured a little more. But contrary to our plans, your figure it out yourself anyways."

"That's about the front and back to it," the Super-ego said – before approaching the Id and extending a hand. "It looks like we'll be working together much more from now on. Please to make your acquaintance?"

Shinji's Id looked at the hand and, after a moment's contemplation, finally reciprocated. "Please to make your acquaintance indeed," the Dl spoke, "although don't you dare think this is over between us. I'm the Id after all. I'm all about being resentful."

"Yikes," said the Judge, "sucks to be you, Super-ego."

"I'm looking at you too, you big fat bastard!" the Id shot the Ego a leering stare, before turning back to the prosecutor. "Anyways, I guess my curious side is kicking in a little now. Question one: what would you have done if the Spear didn't work?"

"Run away," said the Prosecutor. "We were on open water. We can safely retreat and recuperate without risking any loss ground. As for the spear itself, we'd try to retrieve it if it was reasonable. At that point it's just an over-sized bident after all, if it needed A.T. Field to work."

"Fair enough," the Id nodded. "Now question two: what did you do to turn my model into your testable prediction? They seem similar, but I feel there's a subtle difference?"

"It's called Falsificationism," the Super-ego answered. "It's a method popularized by Karl Popper, and it's supposedly very close to how an ideal scientist would go about discovering the truths of the natural world. It might not be your cup of tea, but…"

"Teach it to him anyways," the Ego guffawed. "He swallowed down the problem of induction capably enough. It might actually be useful for Shinji to understand Falsificationism at an instinctual level. That'll have to wait for another time, though. There's plenty of stuff we need to do now."

"Eh?" Shinji's Id tilted his head. "Are we going to be drilling more into Ritsuko's conjecture?"

"Nope!" the Ego grinned. "Rather, now that you've awaken to your identity as the Id, there some new development happening in external Shinji's world that you could greatly contribute to."

"Huh? Guys?" the Id looked at his two other thirds, and shuddered. "What's going on? Is it dangerous?"

"Well…" said the Ego.

"You see…" said the Super Ego.

The two looked at each other, smiled, and then spoke in unison. "We were wondering what you thought about Mana Kirishima."

* * *

Shinji Ikari set down his teacup, contemplated the scenery, before turning to look at his companion. "And that over there is Mt. Komagatake," he said before pausing. "Or, at least, it was until a wave-motion cannon vaporized a majority of its southern front. Operation Yashima hasn't exactly been kind to the geography. If you sit where I'm sitting though, and don't fixate too much on the craters, it's still a pretty sight."

"I have no idea what crater you're talking about," Mana Kirishima feigned ignorance with a soft chuckle. "Thanks again for showing me around town, by the way. I had no idea there was so many hot springs so close to my place. Tokyo-3 sure has all kinds of surprises."

Shinji smiles, and picked up a skewer of dango from the tray next to him. They were in a shadowy glade, a secluded area where an enterprising snack shop had lined up some rows of benches to exploit the spectacular view. In the foreground was lake Ashinoko, a specular cerulean blue beneath the morning sunlight. In the distance, to the east, the city of Tokyo-3 bustle with life while to the west, Mt. Komagatake towers up from beneath a blanket of greenery. A breeze softly cools this beautiful Saturday morning, so around them couples and families are enjoying their picnic and the view. It was noisy, but the kind of noisy that merely made it hard for others to eavesdrop on what one said to a close companion.

Shinji Ikari was grateful for the cover. Being overheard was inconvenient, yet blatantly isolating Mana might make her lock up and refuse to talk at all. "So tell me more about your job," he finally started. "You said you were part of the R&D divisions, right? What kind of stuff did they make you do?"

Over the past few weeks several unusual things have been happening around Shinji, and frankly the boy was feeling a little out of his comfort zone. Between the conjecture, Operation Pequod, Unit-03 and 04's arrival, as well as his move to a new condo in the middle of nowhere, Shinji's brain had to start taking shortcuts to keep everything in check. He'll begrudgingly admit that a couple details might have been glossed over along the way but still, to a good approximation, things seemed to be under control.

Except for the IPEA and the JSSDF.

Shinji had his bunnies looked into the new head of IPEA, and they came to a similar conclusion Kaji and Misato did: the man was suspicious as hell. Still, it's a small consolation that Vice-commander Fuyutsuki was acting as advisor to the agency. Nothing too catastrophic could happen if he was still in charge.

The bigger concern was the JSSDF. The JSSDF, as it stands, wasn't accountable to NERV at all. On the contrary, they have quite a few reasons to be resentful of the secret organization, what with them appropriating the position rifle and several other expensive resources over the past few month. And now by order of the UN, their research lab was going to work on the Spear of Longinus, a weapon demonstrably capable of ignoring the A.T. Field and thus, potentially a contender in a market where NERV's Evangelion held exclusive monopoly thus far. The cosplay brigade had little intelligence on the JSSDF's research department and for Shinji, being in the dark about a possible threat made him very uncomfortable indeed.

Which was why Shinji could hardly believe his luck when, yesterday, a young JSSDF pilot suddenly joined his class. Via a most subtle bit of social manipulation, he had managed to invite the new girl to join his posse on the roof for lunch, where she proved to be intelligent, knowledgeable, honorable and, most vital of all, privy to the JSSDF R&D division's operation. With a break this big Shinji would have had his way with the girl right there and then had the austere Hikari – ever the image of poise and propriety – hadn't gotten in the way. Nevertheless, as school let out for the day, Mana did mention that she wanted to spend the weekend exploring the sights and color of an unfamiliar city so Shinji – his schedule free thanks to the bunny team monitoring Matsushiro – saw the perfect excuse to spend time with his unwitting informant by offering to play tour guide. The red-haired girl had gleefully acquiesced, traded for Shinji's phone number, and left for home with a spring in her step. That was the evening and night of yesterday.

The stroll through the hot spring district this morning was nice and relaxing, though mostly quiet and uninteresting. For the afternoon, Shinji was planning to head down town before circling around to catch one of those decorative pirate ships touring Lake Ashinoko. He would've like to take the ropeway to Mt. Komagatake's summit too – the gondolas a virtually unbeatable setting for a private conversion. Alas, the Angel rendered the cable cars no more, so Shinji would have to do without.

Still, that's almost an entire day's worth of excuse to keep Mana company. Let's see how much he can learn about the R&D divisions in that time.

"There's… really not much to say about that," Mana finally spoke after some consideration. "I'm just a test pilot so, aside from getting in the cockpit of whatever the latest gizmo is, there isn't really a glamorous story to tell. I make sure you can see through the windshield, the seatbelts doesn't choke anyone and the more humanely functions work for machines that our pilot will spend an extended time in. It's really quite boring and the older engineer don't really have much in common with me. The rapid response team was much more colorful place in that respect. What about you, Shinji? What's it like in an Evangelion? Is it scary?"

Shinji thought for a second. Mana seems a little reserved about her history, but it was clear she knew more if he pressed harder. How best to coax her out of the shell? "I've only been inside the Eva a few times," Shinji lied, "I do a lot of tactical work as support, and just like you, they occasionally stick me in the Eva when they need a new guinea pig as well. I mean, there's this one time they were testing the entry plug's ejection function – specifically the physiological effect of sudden acceleration to the limits of human tolerance. So there I was, buck naked, shooting through Tokyo-3's underground tunnels at approximately the speed of sound. I swear I almost barfed!"

Mana let out a knowing chuckle, so Shinji continued. "That's not even the worse part. They were testing the gps transmitter as well which, of course, didn't work. The tunnels dumped me out in the middle of lake Ashinoko, where the retrieval squad promptly lost track of my entry plug. It was a long, cold, claustrophobic 4-hours waiting for them to finally find me. And here's the thing: principally I didn't mind abandoning the plug, swimming a mile to shore and navigating back to NERV in the dead of night – but with no cloths on? Us test pilots have a bit of dignity to consider. Still, even that almost didn't stop me at the end of the third hour, given how much I was pissing my non-existent pants with fear."

Mana was laughing glibly now. Shinji smiled, and silently begged forgiveness for revealing one of Asuka's more embarrassing stories.

"So what's the worse horror story you have as a test pilot?" Shinji finally concluded.

"Hehe, oh dear," Mana calmed her laughter with a deep breath. "Let's see… what can I tell you about my days in R&D… So just before it was shut down, the robotics department came to me with this new prototype they wanted tested. I told them-"

"You guys have a robotics department?" Shinji interrupted. "That's awesome!"

"Yeah, it was where the most interesting test requests would come from. Anyways, when they showed me this new gadget they wanted to try out I said-"

"Why was it shut down?" Shinji interrupted again, eyes squinting with suspicion. "Did something really bad happened?"

"Oh no! Nothing like that!" Mana answered. "It had to do with the funding running out; some other department wrote up a prettier grant proposal, something about a positron gun or another. In any case, my incident had nothing to do with the robotics department getting shutdown; or, at least, I don't think so. So when I saw the gizmo I…"

_So if the problem was funding…_ Shinji thought as he listened to the story. _The positron cannon is no more. W__ith new money coming in from the spear research, there's a real chance the robotics department can get involved._

Shinji clasped his hand and chuckled appropriately at a punch-line. _If they can weaponize the spear, along with the resurgence of the robotics department, then…huh? What's that?_

"…and that's when I said: 'What the hell do you think I'm made of? Steel?'" Mana concluded her story, before noticing the look on her companion's face. "Shinji? What's wrong?"

"Sorry, I need to take this." Shinji said as he flipped open his cellphone. After a second, he furrowed his brows before putting the phone away.

"Mana, it looks like there's been a problem at NERV, and we're going to have to cut our session short today." Shinji declared, gritting his teeth as he spoke. "I know I'm reneging on my promise to tour you, but can we perhaps finish this some other time?" _Dammit, and she was starting to talk as well_.

Mana watched as the boy ate his last dango, finished his tea, and stood up from the bench. "That's ok," the girl finally said. "I understand. Comes with the job, right? Give me a call when things settle down, and we'll figure out some other time to hang out. Don't worry about me for now, my house is really nearby."

Shinji had already started jogging to his destination. "I wouldn't go home if I were you," the boy turned around and yelled. "I'd go to a shelter, and I'd go as quickly as possible. There's very few problem that'll perturb an organization like NERV, and they tend to be big, Angelic ones."

* * *

_Yeesh, this was a vastly different chapter! The author wanted to try something different – specifically visiting Shinji's head box in more detail. It turned into the perfect opportunity for infusing faux Freudian fluff, and a chance to consolidate the two major voices in Shinji's head so far. This chapter was rather experimental, so please let the author know if you liked it._

_This brings us to HIP's first major retcon. In chapter 11, Shinji resorted to his 'creative' side. The role overlaps a great deal with his Id so for the sake of narrative cohesion, the author is going back to change around that episode. Shinji has only one Id, and it is the one that gets the spotlight (heh) in this chapter. The author will try his best to keep the hipster jokes, but it may or may not have to go. (In which case it'll probably wound up as a director's cut somewhere.) This may retroactively make the existence of Shinji's Ego, Super-ego and Id more apparent to discerning readers and for that, the author apologizes._

_Scene setting is pretty much complete now for this arc. We'll be reaping the sow from next chapter onwards._


	16. Woman's intuition

In the year 2000, Wessberg, Nicolelis, et al. demonstrated the possibility of predicting motor trajectory by directly monitoring primate cortical neurons. In subsequent years, Akagi et al. successfully developed a direct neural interfacing architecture capable of controlling humanoidal automaton; suitable for adaptation into a control system for the Evangelion. The O-9 system, of which the A10 interface headset is but a small part, is truly a triumph of Metaphysical Biology; without which the existence of IPEA would not be possible.

-_- Classified Information File#002015-B, item 55. "__A10 Platform API Specification Preface, 1__st__ draft__"; Security clearance level 2: Internally Disclosed Information_

The control sticks inside the entry plugs are largely decorative; a placebo piece of equipment designed to assist the pilot in actualizing their O-9 direct neural interface. The A10 headset monitors the brain's motor command, transmitting any detected signal through the plug into the Eva's core for interpretation. Fundamentally, however, it is a difficult task for humans to control any bodies other than their own; complex actions – usually handled subconsciously by muscle memory – must be intentionally deliberated before passed on to the O-9. The ratio of deliberated command compared to the optimum value is dubbed the Synchronization Ratio; capped at 100% beyond which performance gains levels off asymptotically. Surpassing 100% is actually detrimental to efficiency, since the pilot's brain is taxed to manage non-combat related functions – such as Cardiac pulses or Homeostasis regulations – that are better left automated. Exceeding the limit drastically, or for extended period of time, can amplify the feedback signals from the Eva to the pilot, interrupting their normal neural functions; potentially inducing vertigo, extreme discomfort, or even cessation of life-critical bodily operations. Still, it should be noted that while no desirable gains are predicted beyond 100%, no test has been done in said regime and thus the exact effects are mostly conjectural. The highest ratio any pilot has ever achieved was 89.5%, by Asuka Langley Sohryu (Berlin, Germany).

-_- Classified Information File#002015-C, item 57. "__Excerpt from Maya Ibuki's lab notes__"; Security clearance level 3: Classified Information_

* * *

In a way, the awkwardness of piloting an Eva for the first time was a lot like learning to Scuba-dive – not that Toji Suzuhara knew how. There's a skimpy suite he had to put on, there's a suspicious piece of machinery that goes around him, there's the counter-instinctual bit where he has to start breathing while submerged, and there's also the nagging fear that if somewhere, somehow, something goes terribly wrong, he could seriously be sleeping with the fishes.

Just like Scuba-diving, however, there was also the adrenaline; the pure distilled excitement.

Over the past few days, in efforts to simmer the stew brewing in his head, Toji had tried to learn as much as he could about the whole procedure. That meant asking Asuka, Shinji and Rei, the 3 existing NERV children, what getting inside the entry plug was all about.

"Inside the entry plug, eh?" Shinji had responded. "The fundamentals are pretty simple; you can practically jump in, sit down, and your body will figure out the rest… or at least that's what they've told me. I've never had to cold start an Eva before. Oh, and don't pay too much attention to the handbook they've given you; it's essentially full of lies. Welcome to NERV! If you have any more questions about the organization, I'll be glad to help."

And before Toji could press him any further on _how_ to pilot the Eva, Shinji left.

"How to pilot an Eva, eh?" Asuka had responded. "It's a proficiency thing. Kinda like pulling the strings of a puppet, except each Eva has about 640 muscles or so; bundled in pairs. Think of it like a Gunpla with 320 points of articulation. Nobody expects you to know how to use them all right out of the box; you'd have to be some kind of genius to do that. Just keep your head on tight and maybe you'll come out of it in one piece. Break a leg!"

And before Toji could clarify what she meant by 'maybe come out of it in one piece', Asuka left too.

That was about all Toji got out of his colleagues. He could hardly recall his conversation with Rei at all because, frankly, they didn't have one. The taciturn girl had told him to start from himself, and simply ignored any further line of inquiry. _So one count of easy, one count of hard, and one count of believe with all your might. Helpful._

The boy couldn't help but suspected that, somehow, his three _Senpai_ are ganging up on him for a bit of hazing. _Gotta earn my place, eh?_ _Alright. Fair enough. If that's how it's going to be, I'll just have to blow them all away with my first performance._

"…hara…Toji Suzuhara… Fourth Children Toji Suzuhara, can you hear me? Please respond."

Toji blinked. The voice, sounding as though it's coming from somewhere above and slightly behind him, was that of the gentle-looking scientist who had shown him around earlier. What was her name again?

Maya Ibuki? Yes. That's what it was.

Toji looked around, trying to spot a microphone, a callback button, or some indication of how exactly he was supposed to respond. After a couple seconds of fruitless searching, Toji gave up and simply decided to _speak_.

"This is Fourth Children Toji Suzuhara. I hear you. What is this liquid I'm submerged in? It's kinda weird."

"The A10 nerve clips are functional," a young-ish female voice Toji didn't recognize answered. "LCL pressure and temperature are at equilibrium. Permeability have reached optimal value."

"Great. Thanks, Kaede," Maya's voice spoke out again. "Toji, the liquid is called LCL. It's safe, and has several highly favorable properties. I can give you more details later if you like, but let's finish what we're here to do first – does that sound fine?"

"Roger that," Toji answered. _Man! That felt good to say._

"Great. Toji, the science team and I will be stepping back to start diagnostics procedures. Command will now fall under the Chief of Operations, Major Katsuragi. Good luck!"

"Thank you."

For a brief moment, the entry plug was filled with silence.

"Hello? Toji, this is Major Katsuragi Misato. We're beginning initialization sequence of Evangelion Unit-03. Any last questions before we start?"

_There is one thing_, Toji thought. "Misato, is it hard to pilot the Eva? I don't mean the fights, the training or the responsibility, just the actual controlling of the mecha itself. Am I at risk of getting injured?"

"I can answer that," a playful female voice respond. "Toji, those clips on your head monitor your cortical neurons. When you think about moving your body, the A10 headset reads that and moves the Eva accordingly. In principle, every muscle of an Eva can be controlled that way, but that's usually more precision that you'll ever need. Even if you don't get everything, the Magi computers will use your output as a seed, extrapolating the rest in software. About 20% synch ratio is enough; even less today since we're just doing a shakedown activation."

"Thanks Satsuki," Misato chimed in. "That's the gist of it. Eva operation is easy to learn, but hard to master. Should give you something to look forward to in the simulation sessions, right?"

_Ah. That's what Shinji and Asuka meant._

"Unless something goes terribly wrong," Misato continued, "you'll intentionally have to _try_ to hurt yourself. Have some confidence! _We_ wouldn't be doing this if we thought you had no chance. Believe in yourself and remember why you're here!"

For a moment, Toji paused – allowing the Major's words to sink in. "Thanks, Misato," he finally answered. "Pilot Suzuhara, prepped and ready!"

"We will now commence Unit-03 initiation sequence!" Misato yelled. "Establish first connection!"

"Connecting main power supply," Satsuki answered

"Critical voltage reached!" Maya echoed. "Commencing phase 2!"

"Connection to pilot, open!" Kaede reported.

And suddenly, the entry plug surrounding Toji seems to vanish, leaving him in a brilliant chromatic ocean. Toji gazed at the shifting fractal pattern, the endless tessellations, the marvelous geometry – before closing his eyes.

_Why am I here? I'm here for the people that are precious to me._

"Pulse and harmonics normal! Checklist is satisfactory up to 2590!"

_Who are my precious people? My sister, Kensuke, Hikari. My family. My friends. My connections._

"Approaching the critical mark!"

_What will I do for them? I shall protect them. Guard them. Ensure that they wake up to a better, brighter tomorrow._

"Approaching boarder line in 5…4…3…"

_Why do I do it? Because it's the right thing to do. Because it's who I am. Because if I don't, I shall no longer be._

It shall be

Toji's eyes slammed opened. The entry plug has apparently become transparent around him; the scenery of Matsushiro's landscape spread out beyond.

"Borderline cleared! Unit-03 has been activated… A spike in the pilot's Electro-Encephalogram reading! Unexpected signal reported by the Magi!"

"Ignore the Magi and check on the pilot!" Misato yelled. "Toji, is everything alright?"

"Err…yes ma'am!" Toji answered. What the hell was that just now? Was that part of the start-up sequence?

"EEG reading returning to its usual level," a male voice reported. "Critical threshold cleared. All sensors to the entry plug is showing normal response."

_That's good._ Thought Toji. _It looks like everything is working as intended. That's reassuring. For a moment there, I was getting quite nervous._

_For a moment there, I swear there was someone else in here with me._

"Roger that," Toji spoke. "Standing by for further instructions."

"Beginning interlock test," Maya replied. "Releasing restrains in 5… 4… 3…"

Toji was ready to try some piloting. He should receive control of the Eva any moment now.

Any moment now…

Any moment…

Seriously.

"Guys? How about that countdown? Maya?"

Silence.

"Guys? What's going on? Are we releasing my restrains for the interlock test?"

Toji suddenly became aware that the plugsuit had a snug fit around his neck. Loosening the collars with his left hand, Toji learned firsthand why the suit was designed to be skin tight. The surrounding liquid flowed into Toji's plugsuit; replacing the LCL kept warm by his body with a shooting jet of cold down the spine.

"Guys? This isn't funny anymore. Can someone please say something?"

Again, silence.

Toji noticed a blinking square an arm's length away from his face. _The HUD? It's in English, so I'm not quite sure what it says. Mental note to see if I can switch to Japanese later. Let's see… it says…_

[Connection Lost]

Suddenly, the windows opening on the vast Matsushiro landscape turned black. A row of orange hexagon shot up from the bottom, covering Toji's vision in an array of menacing honeycomb.

"Hello?" Toji yelled – a note of panic rising in his voice. "Can anyone hear me? Hello?! Hello!"

The honeycombs began pulsing; flashing between nerve wracking amber and crisis harbinger red.

* * *

The personal elevator stopped, and Shinji stepped off onto the command deck. Pandemonium abound as legions of NERV officer dash about their stations. In the main operator's seat, the sole bridge bunny left in HQ was working overtime to account for her missing colleagues.

"Second children has boarded Unit-02!" Aoi Mogami was yelling; madly switching her radio between the relevant channels. "JSSDF rapid response have setup a perimeter! Engineering reports 98% completion of Unit-00! Third children has arrived in central dog-"

"Aoi," Shinji spoke, carefully approaching her lest he break her concentration. "What's the situation? How much time do we have?"

"Master Shinji, salutations!" Aoi responded without turning around. "Situation Angel incursion. Blue pattern: blood…! Interception Suruga bay, ETA 23-minutes! On screen!"

A set of markers appeared on the giant floating map; tracing out the line of barricade. Above the hologram, on the massive display screen, one video feed showed an entry plug being loaded into the – now azure colored – Unit-00, while another camera watched as Unit-02's elevator pad arrived on a massive airfield.

"Unit-00 and 02 to scramble via 'Fly-wing' transport," Aoi continued. "Arrival time 17.5 minutes. Attack with overwhelming firepower. Prevent Angel landfall."

As if on cue, a circle drew itself on the topological map – demarking the area of bombardment.

_Pretty good plan_, Shinji thought. "Aoi, where's Misato? Who's in command of the situation?"

"Major Katsuragi at Matsushiro site," the bridge bunny shouted between her keystrokes. "Long-distance communications de-prioritized. Magi resources running tactical simulations. Command deferred to highest ranking officer in Chief of Operations absence."

Immediately Shinji snapped around towards the senior commander's chair. There, high above the commotion, was the most powerful man in NERV. "Father…" Shinji muttered.

"Incoming transmission from Magi 02 at Matsushiro!" Aoi suddenly shouted. "Requesting priority connection to ours. Should we respond?"

"On screen!" Shinji yelled, but Aoi merely looked pass him towards the high chair.

"Accept the transmission," Gendo commanded. For a moment, there was static on the main screen – then the blurry visage of a late-twenty-something female commander appeared before them.

"Misato!" Shinji yelled, but the chief of operations merely looked aside to address someone off-screen.

*crackle* "…we connected? Makoto! The bandwidth is terrible! Our line shouldn't have that much overhead. What's hogging down our-"

"Just a moment!" an irate man yelled.

The main screen flashed, and immediately Misato was back on in crystal clear HD resolution.

"Commander Ikari," the Chief of Operations saluted. "This is Major Katsuragi Misato reporting in on the situation. Unit-03 has successfully completed activations and we're now preparing to-"

"Why did you not immediately contact Central Dogma?" Gendo interrupted. "You are the Chief of Operations. You should've checked in as soon as the Angel alert went out."

"My apologies, sir!" Misato responded. "When the Angel was detected, Magi 2 began running tactical simulations as well – catastrophically interrupting our monitor of Unit-03. Secure line connections to HQ was deprioritized, and we had to manually override its runtime to restore-"

"No excuses!" Gendo cut her off again. "Did you consider the possibility of calling us with your cellphone?"

"Commander, I…"

"You must contemplate all solutions," Gendo continued, "not just the obvious ones. Being flexible is part of your job description; commanding NERV operations to thwart the Angel incursion is also part of it as well. While you were wasting time fighting an errant computer, an Angel has been making its way down towards the Geofront. Major Katsuragi, are you finally ready to do your job?"

"Yes, commander!" Misato saluted with full force.

There was a moment's pause, as the world awaited Gendo's decision.

"Transfer battle field command to the Matsushiro remote site," the Commander finally order. "Major Katsuragi shall be in charge of this ongoing operation. Update her to the relevant strategy in progress."

"Roger that, sir!" Aoi Mogami replied before starting her mad clatter across the keyboard once more. "Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar have connected to Hōgen, Heiji and Heike. Priority transfer initiated. Major Katsuragi, the current strategy – dubbed Operation Overlord – involves the deployment of mobile and stationary JSSDF artillery around the shores of Suruga Bay. Unit-00 and 02 will provide support from tactical positions, where they shall safely negate the Angel's A.T. Field. Conventional weaponry shall stall the enemy's advance, pinning it down in lower, less favorable terrain. Should that be insufficient to finish off the Angel outright, Lieutenant Shigeru Aoba in Gotenba has already been coordinating with the Longinus Spear research team. Airlift of the Spear should arrive 10-minutes after contact with the enemy; at which point either Eva should be enough to clinch our victory."

"A very strong strategy," Shinji remarked. Misato can only nod in agreement.

"Priority transfer complete!" Satsuki's voice reported from offscreen. "Establishing battlefield control, standby."

Immediately, several smaller windows opened up on the main screen – showing the operators on the Matsushiro side, the two pilots being transported in their Eva, and the JSSDF fortification line at the shorefront.

"Asuka, Rei, can you hear me?" Misato asked, and the two children acknowledged. "Good. You two already heard the gist of the strategy over the sound-only channel. This is a battle for survival, so get your feet on the ground, hold the line, and don't do anything stupid! The momentum is on our side, girls! Let's show the Angel we intend to keep it!"

* * *

"That's not fair. That's totally not fair. You guys saw that right? That's cheating. That's totally unfair."

Toji didn't _see_ what happened, but he'd been listening to his entry plug's sound-only channels since the start. Going based on that, though, things aren't looking good.

"Asuka, what part of 'don't do anything stupid' do you not understand?" Misato's voice was full of poison.

"What?! I didn't do anything stupid!" the fiery girl answered. "Our plan accounted for the possibility that we can finish off the Angel early, right? That's why when I saw an opening, I took it! The fight would've ended right there if the Angels weren't a pair of cheating Miststück. How was I supposed to know it could do that?"

Misato sighed with resignment. "Just be happy Rei was there to pull your Arsch out of the fire. The Angels are pursuing the rapid response team up to the Gora defense line, where we will try to mount a reengagement. Until then, if anyone has an idea how we'd handle the Angels now that there's two of them, I'm open to suggestions."

At that, Toji felt a sudden pang of nervousness. There's _two_ Angels now? What kind of rules are these aliens playing by?

"Why does it feel like every Angel we encounter has some new wonky broken superpower?" the voice of Shinji Ikari expressed his frustration. "Asuka, my sweet, can you tell me if you recall any important point from your Angelic encounter? We might be able to figure out some countermeasures based on that."

"Of course, my armchair general," Asuka sarcastically countered. "The most important point I recall is that the Angel cheats. One moment there was one, and I was winning. Then there was two Angels and all hell broke loose. Ganging up on me isn't fair! If the Angel is going to cheat like that, then I'm not playing this game."

Shinji snorts. "Cheating is what losers call technique, Asuka, and cheating would be if two Angels turn up at the same time."

"You know, Shinji might have a point," Misato chimed in. "When we discovered it, our sensors indicated that there's only one Angel – just like every Angel before this one. Even though it's now split in two, there must still be some kind of fundamental relation that we can exploit. Asuka, noticed any pattern in how they behave? Something that changed once they split up?"

"Well…" the girl paused for a moment of thought. "If one thing changed when they split up, it's how the Angel suddenly became invincible. The defense forces' focus fire did nothing, and whenever I try to engage the Angel one-on-one, the other would slip right in and hit me from my blind side. I would try to put up my A.T. Field as defense but, while I'm doing that, I can't neutralize the Angel's and wonder girl isn't enough to counteract both barriers alone. Heck, even when I straight up charged the enemy with the Longinus Spear, they gang up on me and halt my assault."

"Did you try damaging both Angels at the same time?" Misato questioned.

"Huh? With the bident on the spear? Are you nuts?" Asuka shouted out in disbelief. "For my sanity I'm going to assume you're talking about the JSSDF, in which case why would we ever want to do that? It's pretty much strategy 101 that a battle half-won is a battle still ongoing. Far better to finish off one fight completely so we don't have to defend from both fronts at the same time. Besides, if hitting one enemy with the full brunt of our power does nothing, why do you think dividing in half and hitting both would make us fare any better?"

"Woman's intuition," Misato answered. "From what you said, it sounds like the Angel is in a synchronized state. If that's the case, and if we can't hurt them one at a time, then why not try dealing damage to both?"

"Interesting," Shinji mumbled. "Our conventional weapons aren't budging the Angels, right? What if we… oh crud."

"What is it, Shinji? We're a little desperate right now."

"It's a terrible idea," the boy answered. "It'll never work. I'll come up with something else."

"Out with it, Shinji!" Misato yelled. "Every second we spend dillydallying is bought with the lives of the rapid response squadron. So if you have something in mind right now, you spit it out."

"Well…" the boy hesitated. "Just gonna qualify that I think it's a terrible idea. We want to hit both Angels really hard and at the same time, right? There's a weapon in the JSSDF arsenal that can do that."

"But N2 bombs won't penetrate the Angel's A.T. Field!" Misato checked. "Besides, they have such a large blast radius that any Eva close enough to… oh."

It was around this time that Toji realized what kind of stakes are on the table.

"You're right," Asuka spoke. "That _is_ a terrible idea."

"Got something better?"

"I'm not sure how viable this is," Asuka said, "but I remember killing an Angel with a prog-knife before. What if wonder girl and I both charged the Angels at the same time?"

"The problem here isn't as much piercing their defenses as it is piercing them at the same time," Shinji remarked. "How do you suppose we do that? Synchronized dancing to a pre-scripted attack routine? Cause I tell you that's crossed my mind and it's even less practical than bombing everything to oblivion."

"If I may interject with a suggestion?"

Toji didn't recognize the new voice, though he could tell the sound was male and had a slick, oily timbre to the ear.

"I'm Shiro Tokita," the speaker identified himself, "new head of the IPEA. I've been watching the whole ordeal from Matsushiro's VIP lounge and I must say: it's been quite… eye opening."

"Can it, Shiro," Misato interjected. "I've got a war to win. No time to humor you bureaucratic types right now."

"But you seem to be in quite a predicament," the CEO continued – unperturbed. "And I might just have the solution to your problem. Care to hear it?"

"What? Why didn't you say so?!" Shinji echoed. "Does the IPEA have some new science? An upgrade to swing the tide in our favor?"

"Eventually, possibly, maybe." Shiro responded. "Right now, though, I'm suggesting we go in the opposite direction."

"Huh?"

"I'm suggesting we downgrade the Evas."

* * *

Toji could hardly believe his luck. Today was supposed to be an easy warm-up session: get in the Eva, flip the switch, do some diagnostics and go home. Instead, here he was: first day on the job and he's going to engage a humongous alien monster in close-quarter-combat. At this point he has received no training, no pay, no assurance to his safety nor guarantee that this was actually winnable. A lesser man would have thought this was a joke; would have ran away really really quickly.

Not Toji Suzuhara. He had his pride on the line.

As he paced about the aisle of the 'Fly-wing' class transport cruiser, Toji paused to look out the windscreen onto the field of clouds below. The aircraft pilot, a young-ish looking female officer wearing a cat-eared headband, noticed the boy looking over her shoulder and motioned to the vacant co-pilot seat.

"A little nervous?" Kaede asked, and Toji nodded in response. "Don't worry! Your synch ratio was clocking in at 20.2%. You should have no problem with the operation."

"I'm just realizing how real all of this is," the forth children answered. "I thought there'd be a week, at least, before I needed to really start off. I mean, I watched Asuka kill that fish Angel and all, but I guess it never really clicked that I'd be doing the same the moment I stepped into an Eva."

Kaede watched the boy, before asking softly with hesitation. "Do you regret your decision?"

"Not one bit!" Toji shouted. "Rei and Asuka are out there right now, and they're both giving it their all. When the girls are in a pickle, it's a boy's job to come and rescue them, right? If I can help my friends and protect their lives, I'll pilot the Eva a thousand times over."

Kaede chuckled, before turning back to check her control scheme. "I'm jealous of the girl that gets you as her boyfriend. If only the master was as passionate about the Eva."

The cockpit's radio clicked on, and Misato's voice began transmitting. "Kaede, Satsuki, you're approaching the LZ: initialize drop-off trajectory! Pilots, it's time to board your Eva."

"Roger that!" Kaede respond, before pushing forward on her control stick. Outside the windshield, as the transport cruiser lowered its nose to begin its descent, a second carrier bearing the silver glint of Unit-04 slips into view.

"Best get ready," the cat-eared pilot said to Toji. "I've turn on a private sound channel so you can talk to the fifth in real time while you're waiting. If you have any last minute strategy to work out with her, now's your chance!"

Toji nodded, saluted the pilot, and sprinted down the aisle towards his entry plug. The boy didn't even noticed as he dunked himself in the LCL, swam to his seat and booted up his mecha in a chromatic blur of color. _Contact the fifth children?_ Toji thought. _Might as well. Best make sure we're actually on the same page._

"Hello? This is the fourth children in Eva Unit-03. Contacting Eva Unit-04. Do you read me?"

There was a long pause, but as Toji began to suspect he wouldn't get a response, a sound-only channel switch on.

"[This is the fifth children in Unit-04; thank goodness you're a talkative one, Unit-03. Any pointers on our very first operation?]"

_Huh? English?_ Toji thought, puzzled. _Oh right, Shinji said that she's American; of course she'd speak English. Goddamn I should've paid more attention in class._

"[Err… Hello everyone! How are you...?]" Toji started, rapidly digging his cache of emergency English. "[Fine thank you! Do you speak Japanese?]"

"Etto…" the fifth children responded hesitantly. "Japanese… second language… speaking… English?"

_Oh god,_ thought Toji. _We don't have time for this. I'll have to take the lead and work out any confusions later._ "[I fourth children. You fifth children. I leader. You follower. Ok?]"

Another long pause of hesitation. "[…Ok,]" the fifth children responded, before the sound channel clicked off.

_What a great start_, the boy mused to himself_. Hope Rei and Asuka are doing alright. Guess we play the waiting game now._

And it was with great relief to everyone that the waiting game didn't last long. Unit-03 and 04 touched down at the Gora defense line mere seconds after the Angel started its engagement with Unit-00 and 02.

* * *

"Hiyaa!" Asuka shouted, blocking the Angel's swiping attack with her knife. She and Rei had arrived at the Gora defense line mere minutes ago; in that small window all they had time for was recharging loss power during hasty mobilization.

"How're you holding up, wonder girl!" Asuka yelled at her companion. "Keep the silver Angel off my tail, and I'll keep the gold one off yours!"

A soft acknowledgement responded to Asuka's prompt. With an overhead swing, the azure-blue Eva swung its knife to block a sweep aimed at the Unit-02; just as Asuka parried a lunge towards Unit-00.

"Thanks," the fiery girl spoke. The two Evas were now surrounded by the Angel clone pair; Unit-00 and 02 raise their arms in a guarded stance, their shoulders pressed back-to-back.

"Where's the cavalry?!" Asuka yelled, and as if on cue two earth-shaking rumble thundered out in the distance.

"This is Toji Suzuhara! Unit-03 and 04 have landed at Gora. Sorry to keep you guys waiting!"

"Damn right I was waiting," Asuka answered. "You impudent boy! You're supposed to be early to a rendezvous with a girl!"

"Sorry. Won't happen again. Unit-03 and 04 prepped for our attack run. Waiting on you girls for our cue."

"Hear that, wonder girl? Let's waltz!"

Immediately Unit-00 and 02 pushed off from each other, launching towards the Angel with overwhelming momentum. Just as they were about to connect, the Angels reared backward and swung…

There!

Unit-02 parried the blow, slipped under the Angel's arm, and circled around to face the enemy's back. With both arms, Asuka reached under the Angel's shoulder in a submission lock – halting the adversary in place.

"Gold Angel subdued!" Asuka report, and not two seconds later Rei reported her success as well. "Come on, Toji! It's now or never!"

There was an awkward second of pause, then a battle-cry drowned out every radio channel Asuka was switched on to: "BANZAIII!"

* * *

"A downgrade? How could that possibly help us?" Misato questioned dubiously.

"As the situation stands," Shiro answered, "it turns out one of the advantages of an Eva is no longer an advantage at all. Evas are supposed to function as an independent weapons platform, right? But right now you don't want them to work independently anymore. You want synchronicity. You want them to move as one."

"Yeah, but there's no way the Eva can work together in perfect unison," Shinji countered. "The Evas are piloted by humans, and even if Asuka and Rei were somehow to start functioning on the same wavelength, there's no way to ensure they'll hit the Angel at the same time. You'd have to make one pilot control 2 Evas at once!"

"And we do have a mechanism which controls two Evas at once," Shiro replied. "In fact, I'm staring at them right now."

"Huh?" Misato stammered. "You don't mean… the Magi?!"

"Yes, precisely."

"But how?!" the Major questioned. "Fuyutsuki hasn't completed the dummy plugs yet, and there's no way they'll authorize a half-hearted activation lest we have a repeat of the catastrophe during Yashima! How does the Magi help us at all?"

"You see," Shiro started. "When I was designing the control module for Jet Alone, I didn't have anything as powerful as a Magi computer to work with. We needed an entire server room running parallel processes, each core working in tandem to ensure our titan didn't fall over flat on its face. With so many computers doing its own separate thing, do you know how we ensured that our output was one solid coherent order?"

"How?"

"We slowed everything down. We had a computer whose sole job was to function as a clock, and we waited until the clock saw that the slowest process in the cycle has completed. That's when we finally transmitted our orders to the Jet Alone. We took a hit in speed, a guaranteed downgrade that our computation can only run as fast as the slowest computer in the house. In return, we get synchronized orders every single time."

"But… but…" Shinji stuttered. He was beginning to see a plan in formation. "But Evas aren't controlled by the Magi! They're controlled by the pilot, while the Magi merely works as a synch compensation!"

"_Up to_ 80% synch compensation," Shiro answered. "If we ensured that the pilot synched _down_ to the minimum, and then allowed Magi to work on the rest using the pilot's seed command, then with the sort of clock speed these bio-computers are running at we should have no problem making sure two Evas are working in perfect unison with each other."

"That…" a tone of awe was evident in Misato's voice. "That… might just…"

"Of course, there's inherently a drawback," Shiro continued. "Because of clock synchronization, the Eva's response will be slower by a considerable degree. Furthermore, because the seed can't be too high in complexity, we can rule out any sort of acrobatics or fancy pugilism. But if we want two Evas to punch at the same time, kick at the same time, or charge forward with a knife at the same time, then the two pilots only need want to do so at _roughly_ the same time; after which the Magi will take care of the rest."

"That's brilliant!" Shinji bellowed. "If Asuka and Rei can strike in synchronous, we might be able to take down the Angel afterall-"

"Hold on, stupid Shinji," Asuka barked. "How do you expect me to get close to the Angel if all my controls were slowed to a crawl? We're already having a hard time without a self-imposed handicap."

"You don't need to be handicapped!" Shinji was shouting with glee. "This is why it's strictly advantageous for us to have more Evas in our arsenal! Who cares if 2 Evas were slower than a crawl when we have 2 more that can make up for their loss speed?!"

* * *

That was the general strategy as it flashed through Toji Suzuhara's head. Wait until Asuka and Rei, who has more experience in the hot seat, subdue and halt the Angel's motion. That's when he and the fifth will rush in with their prog-knives, delivering a killing blow. Both attacker Evas was on the ground now. No need to wait any further.

"…Waiting on you girls for our cue!" Toji shouted.

"Hear that, wonder girl? Let's waltz!"

In an impressive display of nimble athleticism, Rei and Asuka circled around their adversary before catching them both in a shoulder lock. "Come on, Toji! It's now or never!"

Toji put Unit-03 in a stance, and Unit-04 followed as though it were reading his mind. Now to ensure that his companion followed in the rush. How does one say 'charge!' in English again?

For a moment, one of Kensuke's story about World War II came to mind. Looks like it'll have to do.

"BANZAIII!" Toji yelled, and shot forward towards the silver Angel with all his might. Beside him, Unit-04 sprinted forward too in perfect synchronicity.

The two charging Eva whipped out their prog-knife in unison, before lunging straight at each Angel's core. As the blade connected, a thunderous cracking sound echoed throughout the sky.

Toji lifted back his prog-knife, and watch as he saw the blade shatter apart down the middle.

"What the hell?" Toji shouted, before throwing away the now useless hilt in his hand. "[Fifth Children! Eva punch!]"

Unit-03 and 04 lifted their right hand, and slammed down on the Angel's core. When that didn't work, they lifted their left fist and slammed down again. Throughout the valley, there was a sound of metal on hard, unyielding surface.

"Why?" *Clank*

"Why?" *Clank*

"WHY?!" *Clank*

"Why won't you DIE?! Why won't you stupid goddamn Angels just DIE!"

*Clank* *Clank* *Clank* *Clank*

*Flash*

An exploding ball of fire erupted forth from each Angel's circular face, sending Unit-03 and 04 flying into the hills. "Arrrgh!" Toji screamed as a pulse of pain shot up from his back and torso.

The two Angels then did a backflip about its arms, spinning around just enough so that their mask were facing the Evangelion restraining them. With another energy blast, Unit-00 and 02 were assaulted full force into the back of their neck. The forward momentum bounced each Eva a considerable distance as they smashed into the ground.

"Asuka! Rei!" Toji yelled as he tried to get back on his feet. Before he could do so, however, a glistening silver robot darted forth towards the golden Angel.

"[Useless Japanese!]" the private sound channel echoed in Toji's head. "[Magi, disengage synchronous motion! A.T. Field full power!]"

Just as the Angels was about to strike the grounded Evas once more, Unit-04 flew in on top of Asuka and, surrounded by an orange hexagonal glow, blocked the exploding eye-beam from connecting. Unit-00, without anyone to protect her, bounced forward like a ragdoll before landing close to Toji's position.

"[Stupid man! Help Unit-00 up, you fool!]" The sound channel screamed at Toji once again, as he watched the silver Eva pick up Unit-02 in a fireman's carry. "Idiot! Help! Run!"

Toji didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed Rei's Eva in a princess carry, turned around, and ran away.

* * *

Shinji watched the main screen as 4 Eva units slid down the elevator and into their cage. In the foreground, hordes of men from engineering rush about trying to assess the damage sustained. Looks like they were none too happy about the recently renovated Unit-00.

Their commotion, on the other hand, was nothing compared to the one that Misato was throwing on screen.

"What the hell was that?! Why didn't it work?! Shiro, you said the Magi synch attack would work!"

"I said the Magi attack would hit them at the same time," the CEO calmly answered – though it was clear from the video feed that he was equally surprised himself. "_You_ were the one who said that hitting them at the same time would kill them."

"It _should_'ve killed them!" Misato yelled. "Your method didn't hit at the same time enough! Now look at the state that we're in! How are we supposed to get out of this one?"

"Why is it now my fault all of a sudden?!" Shiro finally lost his cool and stood up. "Last I checked I'm the man running engineering, while YOU'RE the one in charge of operations! I was trying to help your crazy strategy and now you point your fingers at me?! Why did you think hitting them at the same time would kill them anyways?"

"It had to kill them! The Angels are obviously in a synchronous state! We have to do the same thing to both of them in order for the attack to stick!"

"Misato-" Shinji started, but Misato ignored him.

"We just didn't hit them at the same time enough! Unit-03 and 04 are synched via Magi-2, right? That's here in Matsushiro so there must've been a delay in our signal transmission! How are we so sure that they're actually hitting the Angels at the same time?!"

"Misato!" Shinji said.

"What about the angle? The force? The location being attacked by each Eva?! We're going to try this again, using Magi-1 as the synchronous clock. We'll equip them both with new prog-knives, no, two new prog-knives so they have a replacement if the blade breaks. We're going to launch right under the Angels, grapple them down, and-"

"Misato-san!" Shinji yelled.

"Enough!"

The deafening roar boomed out through the hollows of the command center. As the echo died down, all eyes turned towards the high commander's chair.

"Commander Ikari..." Misato answered, beads of tears forming in her eyes. "We have to launch the Eva and hit the Angel at the same time... Otherwise... Otherwise... If that doesn't work... the only other solution is to-"

"That is quite enough, Major Katsuragi Misato," Gendo Ikari commanded. "Why do you think hitting them at the same time would work at all? Because they're synchronous? Because of women's intuition? In case you haven't noticed the Angels DEFY intuition! Your unwillingness to abandon a falsified assertion and pick a winning solution has severely damaging our prospect. As such, I hereby relieve you of your command henceforth."

Misato was stunned. Slowly, ever so slowly, the colors begin to drain from her face. "Commander Ikari…?"

"Aoi, what is the damage dealt to our Evangelion?" Gendo continued. "Report to me starting from the severest one first."

"Sir, preliminary inspections are incomplete, but it seems like Unit-00 is the most severely damaged; followed equally by Units 02, 03 and 04. It seems the fifth children's quick action prevented most of the damage to Unit-"

"Contact Atsugi base immediately," Gendo cut her off. "Tell them to have two N2 bombs in the air ASAP; the N2 emergency code is 'Trinity, Enola Gay, Bockscar'. Load Unit-00 and 03 with their pilots, and have them intercept the Angel while they are still in Tokyo-3's outskirts."

"No!" Misato yelled. "Commander, I must protest! There's no way an Eva and its pilot can survive an-"

"Our priority, _Captain_ Katsuragi, is defeating the Angel and protecting the human race. In the face of certain annihilation certain sacrifices are acceptable, or were you going to suggest that we send the two apparently _more_ skillful pilots to their death instead? An N2 bomb will take out an Angel as long as its defenses are down; since there's two of them I have ordered two bombs for good measures! Rest assured the pilots shall die happy knowing they've protected the human race, and we shall always remember them in our hearts."

"Commander Ikari, this is Toji we're talking about! This is Rei! What about the people of Tokyo?! Are you saying that collateral dam-"

"Fuyutsuki," Gendo turned to his second in command. "I shall be in my office explaining the situation to the UN. You have command of the bridge. If anyone has a better idea in this situation, tell them to approach you about it quickly."

And with that, Gendo left the command center.

For a long moment, the silence was broken only by the sound of Misato sobbing over the telecomm; the soft voice of Makoto comforting her did little to ameliorate her despair.

Finally, Shinji approached his operator and asked a question. "Aoi, how long does it take for the bombers to get here?"

"Master Shinji, the bombers from Atsugi base should take no more than 25-minutes to get here," Aoi responded. "I'm sorry, sir, but even with my special commission, I don't have the authority to override the Commander at your behest."

"That's fine," Shinji answered. "Tell the bombers to take their time, and enjoy the full 25-minute flight down here. Everyone else, we have 25-minutes to figure this Angel out! Send out scouts. Run a Magi sim. Anything we can to find out the enemy's weakness! And where did we put the Spear of Longinus again?!"

And the command center was alive once more. Pandemonium as officers run about their various stations. Shinji strode up to one of the empty operator's chair, and sat down. A small display screen switched on in front of him as he did so.

"Hello? Shinji, this is Shiro Tokita, CEO of JHCI," the man in the comm channel said to him. "We haven't met, but I've been told you got us out of some sticky situations in the past. I want you to know that the full resources of my company is at your command, if you figure something out."

"Thanks," Shinji said, and the video winked out; only to be immediately replaced by another fresh feed.

"Stupid Shinji," Asuka spoke. "You call yourself our tactician, right? Do something! I don't know about Rei, but from what I can see, Toji is scared witless! You know that Hikari just confessed to him yesterday, right?"

"No, Asuka," Shinji answered. "I honestly didn't."

"Well now you do, so we can't send him out like that!" Asuka continued. "Figure it out, ok? Even if the Angels are cheating. Even if they aren't playing by our rules. There must be something you can figure out. I'll be waiting, and it's rude to make a girl wait. Ok?"

As soon as Asuka disconnected, Toji replaces her on screen. "Shinji, this is a joke, right? It's my first day here! There's no way they're really going to drop a bomb on me, right?"

_Goddamit I can't focus at all,_ thought Shinji. _I can't exactly hang up on my friend, either_.

"Of course, Toji," Shinji replied. "I'll figure something out, so give me a sec, ok?"

"Ok, Shinji. Let me know as soon as you do," said Toji as he hung up.

_Come on, Shinji Ikari. Think think think. The Angels aren't playing by our rules, so what kind of rules are they playing by? Are the Angels really locked in synchronous? Is there really no way to take them out together? Do we have anything that'll affect the Angel at all?!_

"[Hello? Am I speaking to Shinji Ikari?]"

Shinji looked towards his display screen again, and saw a blond girl wearing a green plugsuit. The number 4 emblazoned across her chest.

"[Yes, this is Shinji,]" the boy answered. "[You must be the fifth children… Maria, was it?]"

"[Yes,]" the girl replied. "[I am Maria Vincennes. Fifth children. First lieutenant of the United States' army, and PhD in computational physics. I'm wondering if you've ever heard of the special relativistic effect known as relative simultaneity.]"

* * *

_This is A.T. Fields. Thanks for reading! A note on the formatting this time._

_Evangelion is an inherently Japanese world, yet still the scope of the event is global in nature. Thus, while H.I.P. is written in English, it is safe to assumed that whenever the characters are communicating with each other, they do so in the language they are most proficient with; except when they aren't. Square brackets are used to indicate language switch, primarily to English but possibly any other language should the need arise. On the other hand, should there be long stretches of conversation where dropping the square bracket is unambiguous, the author will do so in favor of readability. The take away is that sometimes square brackets indicate English, and sometimes they do not; sometimes _no_ square brackets indicates_ not _English, and sometimes they don't. Have fun!_

_The author pledges never to 《use ⟨more ｢than {two |languages (in 【close [proximity]】)|}｣⟩》._


	17. To break reality itself

The special theory of relativity is founded on two principle postulates: that the laws of physics are the same whether it is viewed from a moving or a stationary frame, and that the speed of light in a vacuum is a constant. From this the rest of the phenomenology can be derived, though some are more intuitive to grasp than others. Let us consider first how speed, as we intuitively understand it, is given by the distance travelled divided by the time taken to do so. Yet if two light sources, say a photon gun, moving relative to each other were to compare the speed of their light beam, it must be the same by the second postulate! Thus, necessarily, it is the time and distance in our speed relation that must change between reference frames to keep the laws of physics consistent. Exactly how _much_ they change is described by a Lorentz transformation.

_- Classified Information File#0013529-C, item 07. "On Special Relativity"; Security clearance level 3: Classified Information_

At this point, it bears repeating that even the laws of physics as we know it are merely the presently accepted approximation. It is a model created by mankind's best and brightest, true; but if tomorrow morning the stars vanish, the proton decays or the speed of light is overcome, then tomorrow the stars vanish, the proton decays and the speed of light is overcome. Though reality can be misleading, it is never wrong and it most certainly need not follow any law deduced of it by man. While we have arrived at physical laws that can accurately describe reality down to finest level of precision, we must recall always that our laws are merely a map, that a map is not the territory and that we have been embarrassingly mistaken about reality several times before in the past.

_- Classified Information File#0013529-C, item 06. "On Philosophy of Science"; Security clearance level 3: Classified Information_

* * *

Amongst the other pilots pre-screened by the American NERV, Maria Vincennes would rank herself number two at best – and not from lack of trying! The competition was extremely fierce. The other candidates all had credentials equally as impressive as hers; in some cases even more so. It was a mystery why she was selected above that demon ranked at number one, though Maria suspected Dr. Nunn had somehow put in a good word for her. As it stands, however, one should not be surprised that Maria expected the Japanese pilots, the 4 other Children selected before her, to be the best of the best as well; cream of the crop in their own domain. This was a reasonable assumption for her to make, right?

"[Could you please repeat that one more time? In Japanese if at all possible.]"

Maria Vincennes regarded Shinji Ikari through her entry plug's HUD, and internally questioned her sanity. This here was the second NERV children she had come in contact with and, just like the one before, he seemed most… ordinary. It was extremely disappointing, not to mention frustrating. Did her peers really get passed over – no, did she herself _almost_ get passed over – for these bunch of louts?

"[Pilot Ikari, what I'm saying is that, thanks to the concept of relative simultaneity, what we perceive as killing the Angel at the same time might not necessarily be the case in another reference frame at all. Because the space-time separation between me and Unit-03 striking the Angel is a time-like interval, there is no reference frame where we actually hit the Angel at the same time at all. To actually ensure that such a frame exist, we need to ensure that the interval is space-like instead.]"

"[Err… still sounds like Greek to me. Could you maybe try speaking in Japanese? English is my second language, see.]"

_This damn kid can't speak English either!_ Maria screamed internally. _Am I amongst barbarians?_

"[Please enable your real-time interpreter,]" Maria answered. "[I'm already following UN protocol and transmitting in English; the international language.]"

"My god… [Ok, hold on.]"

_Not like that'll actually help you understand me_. Watching the boy scramble across his console through the HUD, Maria felt a pulse of pity, disgust and hatred deep inside.

"There. Should be on now. What are you trying to tell me again? Please make it quick. We don't have much time left."

_Goddamn it all_. _How the hell did this idiot wind up as the one Children inside NERV HQ?_

"In a sense, the Chief of Operations was right," Maria started. "We aren't killing the Angel at the same time _enough_. To ensure space-like interval, we need to make sure each target dies before a hypothetical photon could get from one Angel to the other. At 300 meter separation, like our past scenario, this works out to a time window of around 1 micro-second. The average human reaction time is around 200 _milli-_second; 200 thousand times too slow. Factoring in transmission delay, and the reaction time of the Evangelion themselves, there's just no way we were hitting the Angel at the same time enough."

Seeing the stunned look on the boy's face gave Maria an odd sense of satisfaction.

"So… are you saying that the Angel is invincible even against an N2?"

"Not exactly," Maria answered. "In principle, if we detonated any kind of bomb _exactly_ dead center between the two Angels, the shockwave will reach them at the same time; it's getting it dead center that constrains us. It so happens that our error margin is highly dependent on the detonation velocity – the speed that the explosion front travels – which is in turns highly dependent on energy yield. An N2 has a detonation velocity of about 300 kilometers per second, times 1 micro-second to give us a 30 centimeter error radius – just about large enough for a modern missile guidance system. That's really the only reason we need an N2 here; other bombs just aren't fast enough for our purpose."

"That's not what I meant," Shinji replied. "I need to know that the N2 won't work, so I can call them off and buy more time for an alternative solution. You're not helping."

Never had Maria felt a stronger urge to sock someone in her life. They have a completely workable mechanic to win the battle, and this boy was explicitly trying to _not_ use it? That's enough. No more playing the nice, respectful new girl. It's time go straight up the command structure to someone who's actually competent.

"I've had enough of you," Maria said to Shinji – before disconnecting from his terminal. The man in charge was Commander Fuyutsuki, was it? Let's see if the O-9 system can link her to his comm channel.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Maria."

Maria jumped as a familiar voice called out, before noticing that a sound-only channel had opened up on her HUD.

"Professor!" the Fifth Children responded, immediately snapping to attention. "I'm sorry, but the third children is being more uncooperative than I thought. I was merely connecting to the officer in charge to-"

"I know," the professor answered, "and there's no need to repeat yourself. You should already know that I can freely monitor any communications into or out of your entry plug. By all measures that boy was a dunce, especially if you compared him to the other American pilot-candidates."

Maria smiled at her caretaker's words. "In that case, I shall inform the commanding officer that the N2 is-"

"Just because the Third Children is a dunce, Maria, doesn't mean we can let him derail our mission!"

The sudden change of tone froze Maria to the bones. "Professor?"

"Remember why we're here, Maria. Piloting the Eva isn't your only duty. If we want to make sure no more dunces like him gets selected as a pilot, if we want to make sure humanity doesn't need to rest their fate on the likes of these fools, there is one thing that we must do above all else. Do you remember what it is, Maria?"

For a moment, the fifth children collected her thoughts, before reluctantly nodding.

"I'm sorry, professor. Playing the obedient junior is very frustrating, especially towards these children. I won't forget my mission."

"What is it, Maria? What is your mission?"

"Professor, my mission is to pilot the Eva, protect mankind and set an outstanding precedence as the first pilot of the American NERV branch."

"And how will we ensure that after you, there is a second and third Children from the American NERV branch?"

"I must mingle with my peers, learn their characters and qualification, thereby figure out what the pilot selection criterion of the Marduk institute is."

"Good," the professor concluded. "Be sure not to forget that. Now, you seem to be in quite a bind with the Third Children. You want to kill the Angel, yet he seems hesitant to use an N2, is that correct?"

"Yes," Maria replied. "We're at quite an impasse."

"Why don't I lend you a hand with an alternative interpretation of the situation?"

* * *

The video feed on his terminal cut off, and for a brief moment Shinji Ikari regretted the fact that his knowledge of formal science was only slightly above that of a capable middle-schooler. Sure, he knew a good deal about the methods of science; the rationality behind avoiding biases and checking his map against the territory. Yet when it came to the bottom line, Shinji was aware that he knew little about metaphysical biology, information technology or modern physics.

His age and inexperience was a weakness Shinji did not often care to admit, especially with his goal of taking over NERV. The bunny brigade is an extremely helpful crutch, but they are merely the first of many that he will need on his ascension. If Shinji had it his way, the science department would be at his beck and call before his first encounter with a really hard science problem.

Alas, the science department was _not yet_ at his beck and call, and there's a really hard science problem that needed to be solved _right now_. From his conversation with Maria, Shinji understood little aside from the fact that beating the Angel is going to take some knowledge at a level above his. On his own, though he'd hate to admit it, Shinji is finished. Done. There is nothing he can do unless someone with more technical knowhow steps in to lend a hand.

Is that it, then? Does he really have to give up, stop worrying and learn to love the N2 bomb?

"Hello everyone, I heard there's quite a situation down there. Anything I can help with?"

With a snap, Shinji turned to face the main screen. There, in front of an indistinct background, a well-dressed man wearing a mustache was grinning in the video feed. A gasp of surprise echoed through command center at the man's appearance – though more surprising still was the origin of the sound: Second Commander Fuyutsuki Kozo.

"Seymour! My word, you're a sight for sore eyes," Fuyutsuki spoke out with relief, before addressing the rest of the NERV officers present. "Everyone, this is Dr. Seymour Nunn; Professor of Astronomy, Cosmology and Senior Scientist at NERV-2 in America. He is also my colleague of many years, and the first man to realize that a meteor caused the Second Impact 14 years ago. Seymour, where are you now?"

"I'm at Matsushiro base," Seymour Nunn answered, a slight western accent in his Japanese. "But I've been watching you fight the Angel since the beginning. I think I might have a model to explain why the Angel behaves the way it does; want to hear it?"

"Does your model let us kill the Angel without an N2 bomb?!" Shinji's question was filled with desperation. Could this be it? Could this be their Deus ex Machina?

"Possibly," Seymour replied, tilting his head upwards in contemplation. "The model is just a conjecture after all. We might be able to take down the Angel if I'm right, or we might lose valuable time and resources if I'm wrong. Still interested?"

Shinji could hardly believe his ears. "Then… what is your model?"

The foreign scientist smiled. "See, the thing that bugs me most about this entire scenario is how the Angel manifest _its_ synchronization. Don't you find it fascinating that one Angel suddenly became two, yet still the two mirrors each other's actions precisely? We had a hard time enough synching our own Eva, but if we consider the Angel and assume that it gets its invulnerability by taking refuge in a space-like interval of Special Relativity, then the Angel can't synch with any signal that's slower than the speed of light either."

Shinji didn't like how technical this explanation was getting. Given the situation, he is forced to take the man's word at face value, and appeal to authority was never something he particularly enjoyed. Thankfully Fuyutsuki was there – and being the most knowledgeable man in the room was essentially his job description.

"Can we skip how you came up with the model, and go straight to the explanation itself?" the second Commander prompted. "We're running under some serious time constrain right now."

"Fine, fine," Seymour shrugged. "In a nutshell, I think the Angel stays in synch by locking itself in a state of parity symmetry."

"Huh? What is that?" Shinji could help muttering out loud.

"I'm glad you asked, young man!" The foreign scientist lit up at the question. "Parity is the idea that reality is neither left- nor right-handed. If we set up a laboratory in a mirror world, our lab results should be the same as in the original lab frame! As such, if we consider there to be only one Angel and a mirror images of itself, then it is the symmetry itself that syncs the motion between-"

"I'm gonna have to cut you off, Seymour, before you start a class on QFT." Fuyutsuki said as he cut his old colleague off. "How do we use this fact to kill the Angel?"

"Man, you're really cramping my style, Kozo." Seymour gritted his teeth as he spoke. "Anyways, right now the two Angel image is completely equivalent to each other, which means that the real Angel and its mirror twin is in a superposition of states; each image is _both_ the original and the reflection at the same time. That's why in theory, we need to kill them both at once which – barring an N2 bomb – is not achievable in practice. So what do we do? We need to destroy the superpositional state! We need to break the symmetry!"

This statement held little meaning to Shinji, so he could only look to Fuyutsuki for an appropriate reaction. The old man was stunned.

"You're saying we need to break reality itself? Preposterous! How the hell do we make the laws of nature care if the Angel is left- or right-handed? How is that even meaningful?"

"Ah! But reality is already broken!" Seymour countered. "And in case you're wondering, reality is left-handed. An example is in CP-violation, a phenomenon where the laws of the universe actually differentiates between the real and a mirrored world. Symmetry breaking, as counterintuitive as it sounds, is not made up! It is absolutely real and Nobel prizes have been awarded for its discovery. It's also responsible for the fact that there's more matter in existence than anti-matter, and can be induced by introducing even a small initial perturbation. If we do the same to the Angel, there's no way it can maintain the symmetry state any longer."

"At which point…" Fuyutsuki continued, incredulity filling his voice. "We can take down each Angel one by one."

"Precisely," Seymour smiled, before shifting his focus back to Shinji. "What do you think, young man? Did you get all that?"

"The one thing I got from that," Shinji answered, "is that there's a way to kill the Angel without using the N2 bomb. But how do we actually do it? How do we actually do this 'symmetry breaking' thing you speak of?"

"Ah, I'm very glad you asked," the foreign scientist continued. "That's a very good question and also the point where we have to get a little smart about our problem."

* * *

Toji Suzuhara wasn't sure whether he should be happy or scared witless at this recent turn of event. He tried to count his blessings and recalled that, as it stands, he absolutely positively won't be get snuffed out by an N2 explosion anymore.

Then again, from what he's hearing, he's going to have to hold down an Angel in one-on-one combat. Toji wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"[I think…maybe…I win?]" Toji said to the blond girl through his HUD. "[Maybe I lose. I don't know.]"

"[My god,]" the girl answered. "[I can barely make out what you're saying. Either start speaking proper English or just switch your language setting to Japanese. The automatic real-time interpreter should make both our lives a lot easier.]"

Toji didn't understand why this girl was getting all over his case. Weren't they both in pretty much in the same situation? They're both newbies at NERV. They're both in an unfamiliar robot and, in just a couple minute's time, they're both going to have to charge straight at a giant monster that – up until now – was all but invincible. Sure, she was in a foreign land, but isn't he trying his best to speak in a language she's familiar with? Seriously. The English language can eat shi-

"Toji, you idiot!" A familiar female voice rang out in perfect Japanese. The boy turned around and notice that Asuka had opened a channel to his HUD as well. "You can hardly say your name in English, so why on earth are you trying to pilot your Eva in a foreign language? Stop making a fool of yourself and just switch the system locale to Japanese already!"

"Eh? I can switch my language settings? How do I do that?"

"Just go to settings on your control panel and switch the language/region options. Did you space out during your initialization sequence or something?" Asuka shouted, before disconnecting.

Toji mumbled a curse under his breath, before looking back at the various display on his HUD once more. Let's see… it was settings in the control panel and the language/region options, was it?

"There," Toji said as he completed the alteration. There was a moment's darkness as his HUD vanished, before being replaced with its more legible cousin. Noticing that the blond-haired fifth children was still connected, Toji addressed her once more.

"Hello? This is Toji Suzuhara. Can you understand me now?"

There was a flash of surprise on the girl's face, before a soft smile overwrote it.

"Hello, this is Maria! It looks like we're finally on the same wavelength. How are you feeling? Are you ready for your first fight?"

Toji was a little surprised at the friendliness in the girl's voice – it was sweetly saccharine and just a little bit flirtatious.

"Of course!" Toji answered, his tough guy act automatically switching on. "We'll show these Angels not to mess with humans!"

"Great!" the girl grinned, before starting to twiddle with the buttons on her control stick. Immediately 2 more comm windows opened up in Toji's HUD, one to Asuka and one to Rei.

"I want to go over our plan one more time, now that everyone's fully present," the American girl started. "If nothing else, it'll calm our nerves down before the real action. We will deploy against the Angel in approximately-"

"Right, right!" Asuka groaned. "We will deploy against the Angel in approximately 5 minutes, at which point you and Toji will engage each Angel one-on-one while Rei and I stay back to provide support. Jeez, that idiot Shinji only drilled it into our heads about two dozen times. Yeah, I asked him to come up with a new strategy, but he doesn't have to be so smug about it! And why is Rei and I stuck on support routine anyways?"

A new channel opened with Shinji behind the feed. "Unit-00 won't survive another melee encounter," the boy said, "and you have the highest synch rate out of all the pilots. That's going to be vital in the upcoming operation, so take it as a complement."

"Holy cow why are you butting in on our conversation?" Asuka shouted at the boy. "Stupid Shinji! Get out! Pilots only in here!"

"Sorry," said Shinji, who then hung up. Asuka nodded towards Maria who, after a couple presses of her control stick, made the communication room exclusive to the four pilots present.

Toji watched the scene unfold, then scratched his head. "What's up with Shinji anyways?" the fourth children finally asked. "Why isn't he in an Eva, and why does it look like he has a huge chip on his shoulder?"

"He's a huge coward, that's what up," Asuka answered. "Yeah he might've came up with some cool tactics in the past, but that's not his job at all. He's one of the children. He should be piloting an Eva like us, for goodness sake. I don't think he's actually been inside an entry plug even once."

"He's never been in an entry plug?" Maria yelled with surprise. "How long has he been here?"

"He was here two weeks before I arrived… so that's a little over a month now. He claims he wants to take over NERV, but I think that's just the fear talking. Boy thinks he can come up with a cool maneuver once or twice and that'll let him rule the organization? Give me a break! Shinji has no idea what kind of knowledge and politics goes into running an organization like this. I have no idea myself, but at least I know that I don't know!"

"But he's in the command center and he's advocating for us, right?" Toji asked with confusion. "I mean, what he said in class back then: that couldn't have been all talk, right? When I was freaking out about the N2 bomb, you even said yourself that Shinji would come up with a way out."

"That's… that's nothing!" Asuka shouted. "I was asking him because he's near the second commander, and could've bought us more time. That's all there is to it."

"Not to mention the person who actually came up with our current strategy is Professor Nunn," Maria chimed in.

"Right," Asuka continued. "Shinji's got his head up in the clouds, but when push comes to shove, he couldn't do squat. After today, he's going to have less Angel kill counts than you two, and it's your first day on the job!"

"Well…" Maria spoke, a note hesitation in her voice. "About that. Should we really count our chickens before they hatch?"

"Don't worry," Toji said, eager to calm his colleague. "Between the four of us, we got this. They wouldn't be sending us out if there was no chance of success. Besides, if we don't win, we won't have time to worry about it either."

"Speaking of time, we're about to deploy in 30 seconds." Asuka informed her peers. "You guys better not make me look bad. Asuka, over and out."

And with that, the fiery girl disconnected. A few seconds later Rei did so as well.

Toji looked at the sole remaining HUD window, and nodded with a smile. Before he could disconnect, however, the blond haired girl suddenly spoke out.

"Feeling a little more ready?" Maria asked.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Good. I don't know if everything you said just now was all lip-service, but that's how me and my team always act before a big operation as well. Takes our mind off the pressure."

"Big operations? Maria, what are you talking about?"

"Just training missions with my classmates in America," Maria quickly answered. "Anyways, keep a tight head on right now, and focus on what needs to be done step-by-step. We'll needed to work together to win, so watch my back out there alright, Mr. Samurai? Banzai!"

"Roger," said Toji sheepishly, before Maria disconnected the channel.

_Watch her back_, Toji thought as he mentally prepared himself for the upcoming operation. _Not just my family, my friends and my valuable connections. I now have my teammates to protect out there as well._

A rumbling sound as, beside him, Toji saw Unit-00 shoot up the deployment elevator; followed closely by Unit-02. Bracing for launch, the extra G-force only serves to pump his blood faster when it finally came.

* * *

As Unit-02 shot up the magnetic rail elevator, Asuka went over the strategy once more in her head. It was a mad plan; perhaps even madder than the one thought up by Misato and Shiro. So mad, in fact, she wasn't even sure if she could pull it off.

"You want me to do _what_ with my A.T. Field?" Asuka had asked Shinji when he first told her the stratagem. "How the hell could that possibly be helpful?"

"The point isn't to break the Angel's defense," Shinji had replied, "it's to break the symmetry… whatever that means. According to Professor Nunn, as long as the two Angels are mirror images of each other, they're locked in a symmetry state and can't be harmed. The only way humanity can affect the Angel at all is via the A.T. Field… or the Spear of Longinus; which isn't going to be helpful here since we only have one of it. In the past, though, even when we've managed to neutralize all of this Angel's A.T. Field, the two of them would synchronize their field intensity to zero and resort to their symmetrical invulnerability instead. That's where you come in."

"Are you sure this is going to work?"

"No. Even the person who came up with it isn't sure. But the other alternative is an N2 bomb, so I guess we're going to find out the hard way soon enough."

"That's not reassuring at all, Shinji."

"Despite the complexity of what we're asking you, I have complete faith that you'll pull it off."

"Complex is quite an understatement, Shinji. If you think it's so easy, why don't you jump in Unit-01 and come do it yourself?"

"I could never match your sync rate, sweet Asuka dear. Anyways, let's go over the plan once more to make sure we don't forget anything important. You will deploy against the Angel in approximately 5-minutes, at which point-"

"Shinji!"

There was a click, as the launch elevator finally reached its destination. Disengaging Unit-02 from the lock, Asuka was just in time to see Unit-00 take up a defensive position; while further afield Unit-03 and 04 emerged from their deployment chute. In the distance, the hulking twin Angels slowly enters the suburbs of Tokyo-3.

A sound only channel opened up in her HUD. "Commencing attack on the Angel," Maria Vincennes spoke, "in 5…4…3…2…1…"

Like an exploding thunderclap, Unit-03 and 04 sprinted forth towards the adversary. At the same time, Asuka can sense that Rei had begun negating the silver Angel's A.T. Field with her own. _Looks like it's finally time to do my job._

Asuka closed her eyes, and reached out to seize control of Unit-02 surrounding her. Every nerve, every muscle, every tendon. Like a puppet master, Asuka took hold of the strings, and allowed the texture of her puppet to feedback into herself. As the feedback cycle quickened, Asuka began to feel the heat of the sun on her Eva…

_Come on, Unit-02. Obey my command!_

…the kiss of the breeze on her Eva…

_Almost there! Give me your ears, your eyes, your senses!_

…the weight of the armor on her Eva…

_Surrender control to me! Surrender to your master!_

Asuka felt the invisible A.T. Field around her Eva.

_There!_

An explosive rush of energy as Asuka seized control of Unit-02's A.T. Field capability. At this synch level, she was a master sculptor, free to craft her supernatural barrier into any shape or form she wanted. Asuka reached her senses forward, noted one entity enveloped in the field (_that's Unit-03_),another entity enveloped in the field (_that's Unit-04_), and two identical beings in perfect synchronicity with each other.

_That's the Angel. Rei's taken down the silver one's A.T. Field and the gold one is reducing its own to compensate. I just need to sense the gold Angel, recognize its field, learn its exact shape and structure…_

"The Angel maintains invulnerability by synchronizing their state," Shinji had said. "Even when we tried to unevenly lower their field, they would drop their own value to the minimum of the two and take refuge in their symmetry based defense instead. But what if we forced it the other way round? What if we forced the Angel to both lower its own power and…"

Asuka reached out with her own A.T. Field, and _boosted_ the golden Angel's defensive shield.

As Asuka's eyelid snapped open, she was just in time to register the silver Angel take two steps towards Unit-04; but as for the gold Angel?

The golden Angel was frozen for a smidgeon, dead center of its stride.

* * *

Maria's focus tunneled as the silver Angel got closer and closer. Like the edge of a knife, her mind sharpened as she recalled the hand-to-hand combat training she'd received in the army. This symmetry breaking thing better work, or she might as well be charging straight at a brick wall.

Out of the corner of her eye, Maria noticed that the golden Angel has paused in its stride for a blink.

That was enough. Bingo.

Slamming her shoulder into the silver Angel's torso, Maria wrapped her arm around the Angel's leg while boosting up and forward with all her might. The momentum of her shooting in pushed the Angel's center of mass beyond its support, and the adversary fell downward onto its back with a thunderous crash. Pinning the Angel from the side with the Eva's upper body, Maria shifted her legs before placing her knee in the center of the Angel's torso. Now her entire weight is pressed down on the enemy's center of mass.

Not a second too soon. Maria reared backwards, just in time to dodge a flash of explosion shooting out from the Angel's mask.

"Is that how it's going to be?" Maria mouthed as she slipped her legs completely over the Angel's torso, before pressing down in a mount position. A flash from the mask again, though Maria could easily dodge it with her positional advantage. With its beam attack rendered ineffectual, the Angel swiped out with its left arm to attack the Eva pinning it down; though it was easily intercepted by the attacker up top.

With a yank on the arm, Maria pulled the Angel upwards onto its side, before slipping behind to take the enemy's back. Locking her legs over the Angel's hip, Maria pressed the Angel's back into her chest, before barking into her radio.

"Broken arrow strike on my position! Now!"

A hundred sound of thunder, just before a firestorm of shells, missiles and mortar rained down on Unit-04 and the Angel. Maria could feel the Angel writhing to escape, but her hold was more than sufficient to keep the enemy down. With Rei taking care of the A.T. Field negation, Maria was free to protect herself and Unit-04 with her own field. The never ending rain of fire continued until finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Maria picked herself up from the ground with nothing but ashes to sully her Eva's metallic sheen.

"Silver Angel down," Maria announced. "How's it looking with the gold one?"

Maria never got a reply since, at that very moment, a large black entity flew into her sides; knocking Unit-04 a considerable distance away with the impact.

"What the hell was that?" the fifth children shouted, before noticing that next to her lied the beaten up form of Evangelion Unit-03.

"The Angel got me," the voice of Toji reported through the channels. "Dammit, I couldn't get pass its defenses. The A.T. Field was too strong."

Over in the distance, Maria saw the towering form of the gold Angel; recoiling from that strike it just landed on Unit-03.

"This is Maria, I'm moving in to engage the gold Angel. Disengage A.T. Field boost and prepare another bombardment run."

"Denied," the voice of Shinji Ikari announced through the radio. "The symmetry is now completely broken. Unit-02 will finish the fight."

There was a ripping sound as the air tore itself apart. Before her eyes, Maria saw a massive crimson spear puncture a hole straight through the golden Angel, before embedding itself in the mountains beyond. After a brief second, the eviscerated remain of the golden Angel exploded in a bloody shower of magnificent red.

* * *

The phone hung up with a click, and Kaji Ryoji turned towards the other man next to him in the car. They were parked in a nondescript lot; quiet and discreet. "The fighting has finally concluded," the gruffly man said. "Our scouts reports that, while heavy casualties were suffered during the diversionary phase, it was ultimately the defense force's bombardment that took out the first Angel, while the Spear of Longinus took out the second. What do you think, Mr. Prime minister?"

The aged man beside him nodded, before answering in a cold, solemn voice. "It looks like we truly need to weaponize the spear without delay. But the heavy casualties we keep suffering… I wonder if there's something we can do about that."

"The reason NERV itself always gets away relatively unscathed," Kaji answered, "is because the Eva themselves have an A.T. Field as well. As it stands, there's just no way we can emulate that."

"That's not the only thing we could do, though." The Prime minister mumbled. "We'll need some sort of platform to deploy the spear once it's replicated anyways. Perhaps they can design it with durability in mind as well."

"That is something the defense force will need to take up with the R&D labs," Kaji shrugged as he responded. "Nothing we can directly do, though perhaps the newly reinstituted robotics department might have something in mind on that regards?"

"Indeed. I'm sure they're overjoyed that the new budget has been approved," the Prime minister smiled. "Are you off to go check on them?"

"My NERV contact at Gotenba would get suspicious if I didn't return soon," Kaji said as his hand reached for the door. "I am supposed to be minding the Spear's transport after all, and Shigeru is perceptive enough to notice if I'm absent for too long. It'll be a good chance to stop by the robotics lab new home there as well."

"In that case, good speed to you Mr. Kaji," the Prime minister reached out a hand which Kaji gladly shook. Suddenly, however, the old man's grip tightened around younger one's palm. "By the way, anything to report to the Secretary General?"

"Nothing for now… though it looks like Gendo has personally struck some sort of deal with the new head of IPEA. Nothing too dangerous just yet, but I'll send in a report if any alarm bell goes off."

The Prime minister nodded, and finally released his death grip. "Make sure you do so at the first sign of trouble. Now then, you best get going. It's always a revelation to talk to you, Mr. Kaji."

"You too, Mr. Prime minister," Kaji said as he exited the car.

* * *

The saffron colored sun was gently setting behind the hills of Matsushiro, and along with it the scorching heat of the day. Inside the Secondary Experiment Facility, however, there was a room that never ceases to be warm. The whirring of old turbofans can barely keep up with the heat output of the data center, especially since it was hardly designed to handle the energy output of the Magi computers.

In front of the massive obelisk stood a business man, wearing a grey suite and a navy-blue necktie. Shiro slowly reached out a hand to touch the black machine, before the sound of footsteps made him turn around with a start.

"Oh my! What is going on in this room?" A fifty-something man spoke out as he entered the chamber. "It sure is hot in here, eh?"

Shiro watched as Seymour Nunn slowly slouched him, grinning like an idiot.

"Cut the nutty professor act, please." Shiro said to the foreigner. "I can tell when a man too smart for his own good tries to act stupid. The vacant stares are oddly observant. The questions too poignant to be accidental."

A grin spread across Seymour's face, before the man straightened out to a better posture. "Just as I expected. Very perceptive of you, Mr. Shiro."

The professor walked passed Shiro and placed a hand on the Magi himself.

"Hōgen, Heiji and Heike," Seymour spoke as he fondly regarded the computer. "Magi-2, though some refer to them as the Monogatari series to differentiate them from the ones at Geofront. Very powerful devices."

Shiro regarded the computers for a moment himself, before answering. "Indeed. Very powerful. It's a shame they're to return to standby mode now that the activation tests are over. If only someone could put them to good use."

"If only indeed," Seymour responded. "I can hardly imagine what might happen if an enterprising young lad got their hands on these computers. Of course, that would never happened. Gendo Ikari holds his cards close to his heart; there's no way he would let anything this powerful out loose to the public now, would he?"

Shiro's head instantly snapped to look at the professor, though his mouth remained closed.

"Feeling un-talkative all of a sudden?" Seymour smiled, before turning around to leave the room. "Fear not. I don't actually know what you or Gendo are planning to do, if you're planning anything at all. I just happen to know people like you quite well, and I know Gendo enough to imagine what he might do to people like you."

Shiro stared at the man, before squeezing a question out in inquiry. "Who are you?"

"Just a nutty professor with an overactive imagination," Seymour said as he grabbed the knob on the data room's door. "Worry about me not. I'm genuinely on your side and I wish for you to succeed. After all, I was the one who recommended you for the position of IPEA head."

And Seymour Nunn left the room, leaving Shiro to stare incredulously in his wake.

* * *

It was the morning of the Monday after, and Shinji Ikari was restless behind his classroom desk. There was much to consider now that Operation Overlord was over, most specifically the altered landscape of NERV now that several new players have turned up. There was already word that, at the recommendation of vice-commander Fuyutsuki, Seymour Nunn – the Senior Scientist of NERV-2 – will be taking up Ritsuko's mantle as Chief of Science at the main branch as well. Furthermore, there's the issue of the fifth children, Maria Vincennes, who seems to be completely in league with Dr. Nunn. Not to mention the still standing situation surrounding Shiro Tokita and Mana Kirishima, to whom Shinji will probably need to give penance for ditching sooner or later.

Shinji chuckled at himself. That's a lot to think about by any standards. The one thing he'd been looking forward to the most, a report from the cosplay brigade on the shakedown activation, was delayed by the unenviable mess that always follows an Angel attack. Understandable, but he'll have to remind the girls about it if nothing comes in by tomorrow- no, by tonight.

Guess there's nothing to it then. Moving on to an issue that Shinji's been avoiding for a while now; one that almost became his downfall this past weekend. There's no denying it. From this point onwards, Shinji doesn't know enough science to reach any useful conclusions when it comes to the Angel. He needed a way to fix that. Fast.

But how?

After the fight with the weird symmetrical Angel, Shinji realized that the answer to Ritsuko's DIVINE property might be hidden in some new physics that applies only to the Eva, the Angel and any technological derivatives thereof. Yet as it stands, he can't really tell where normal science ends and DIVINE science begins at all. Generally speaking, this would be the perfect excuse for Shinji to hit the books; but then again, Shinji was no fool.

There's no royal road to scientific knowledge, Shinji knew at least that much. If he wanted to have a college level understanding of metaphysical biology, Shinji was going to need to personally sit down and study until he had a college level understanding of metaphysical biology. At his present skill level and ability, Shinji estimates that he should be comparable to an expert in the field just in time for his very own college graduation.

_We don't have that kind of time,_ his Id thought,_ and we're no genius like Maria or Asuka. Is there really no way we can cheat ourselves through this?_

_No,_ the Superego replied. _When it comes to science, you either know it or you don't. Cheat, and you won't know when you're doing it wrong. People lose their lives when you do science wrong._

_We might not be able to learn all the sciences ourselves_, the Ego chimed in, _but that doesn't mean we can't get lots and lots of help, from very very smart people. Know any geniuses who fits that description or two?_

_Oh_.

A new strategy began to hatch itself inside Shinji's head. If he's to proceed forward, he was going to need the help of his piloting friends. Shinji began searching his pockets for his cellphone, when suddenly someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Good morning Shinji!" The voice of Mana Kirishima rang out. "How was your weekend? I never heard back from you so hopefully it wasn't too hectic?"

Shinji looked up into the smiling face of the red-headed girl. Gotta snake his way out of this somehow. "Not at all!" the boy replied, matching the girl's energy level as best he can. "There was just that one Angel attack and a bunch of follow-ups to do in the aftermath. So yeah. Pretty standard weekend around NERV. And yourself? Why are you wearing your defense force uniform?"

"Oh this?" Mana remarked as she looked at her garments. "There's some official business at the Gotenba headquarters this afternoon; probably some aftermath ceremony as well. Between class and traveling though, I wasn't sure I'd have time to change. They're quite nice cloths anyway, so I don't mind wearing them all day through. Do they look nice on me?"

For a moment, Shinji's head snapped to look in Kensuke's direction. The bespectacled boy quickly lowered his video camera.

"The JSSDF certainly has good taste in fashion," Shinji finally answered. "That reminds me: I need to go get fitted for my NERV dress uniform as well. They say dress for the job you want, not the one you have."

Mana nodded, and proceeded to sit down at her desk next to Shinji. "By the way," the girl said, "I heard the other girls saying we have another transfer student again this morning. Don't you think it's odd that so many people are matriculating into our class?"

"What's so odd about it?" Shinji replied. "After all, with the recent evacuations of Tokyo-3, there's only one Middle school left in our school district with enough students to hold class – and only one class at the second year level at that. If any second year student moves into our area, they'll inevitably have to transfer into that class as well; which also happens to be this one."

Mana shrugged, and that was the moment Asuka entered the class to start their homeroom session.

"Now then, we have another new student transferring in to join us today." Asuka said from behind the podium with a shrug. "Why don't you come in and introduce yourself?"

Shinji watch as a tall girl with long blond hair steps into the classroom. _Can't help but feel like I've seen this scene before,_ he thought. _With_ s_o many transfers in the last couple weeks, my classmates are probably used to the routine by now. Let see if she does anything to spice up the usual schema._

"[Hello everyone,]" the girl said with a smile. "[My name is Maria Vincennes.] From America, I transfer here. Learn Japanese."

The classroom watched, yawned, and nodded. Shinji noticed a soft twitch in Maria's face at the lack of reaction. _Compared to the last few transfers, a foreign student trying to learn the language isn't going to cut it. You'll have to try harder than that to impress_.

"PhD Physics I am. Soldier US army I am. NERV of fifth children I am."

The classroom watched, yawned, and nodded once more.

The transfer girl observed the blank looks of her classmates, grabbed the podium next to her for support, then closed her eyes.

The classroom watched with baited breath.

"Sorry. My Japanese bad. I speak English now." Maria gave a short bow in apology, before straightening up once more.

"[Listen up you extremely average apes. I am here for one purpose, and one purpose only. Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth? No? Of course you don't. That's because your backward education policy doesn't begin to touch foreign language until the 1st year of middle school, at which point it's taught in such a foolhardy manner you might as well be wasting your time. Of course, since you all value conformity so much, nobody ever ventures out on their own to learn the language used by a billion people and the official language of the UN. That's why only 3% of Japanese people speak a foreign language and why I need to learn your stupidly ineffectual tongue if I want to live in this barbaric country. So forgive me if I'm not impressed by your refuge in mediocrity. I intend to learn the language quickly and get out of this time sink of a middle school as soon as possible. Thank you.]"

Shinji could feel his jaws drop all the way to the floor. He couldn't say what was more incredible: the words that are coming out of Maria's mouth – which he mostly understood – or the manner in which it was delivered. From tone of voice and the gesturing, Maria's speech would've sounded like a tragic tale of a lost wandering girl – trying to find her way in a foreign land and eager to make as many friends as she could.

Shinji looked about the classroom. There's a little less than 30 other students here so, if Maria's number was believable, he was statistically the only student in class who understood what was actually said.

Maria grabbed her bag and pulled out 2 brochures. "For you American of souvenir," she said as she pointed to the flyer. "Talk to me please if you want. Thank you. I am in your care."

Stuffing the brochures back into her bag, Maria started towards a vacant desk on the back row, leaving a stunned Asuka Langley Soryu staring at her back. She had barely gotten halfway to her seat before the riot began.

As crowds of student gathered around to meet and greet their new friend, Mana Kirishima turned towards Shinji Ikari. "What a lovely girl!" the red haired girl said to the boy. "She recently started working with you at NERV, right? I wonder what she thinks of Japan so far…"

"She loves it," Shinji answered, before returning to his contemplation. _Dammit to hell_, his three internal persona said in unison. _It looks like one of our scientific crutches is going to be _way_ harder to use than we thought._

* * *

_Hello again! A.T. Fields here. Thank you for reading._

_Note that while, as a sci-fi story, H.I.P. has a preposterously low sci-to-fi ratio, the symmetry breaking mentioned here is real. The curious reader is encouraged to look up CP violation and the left-handed universe on their favorite online encyclopedia. It is also worth noting that works mentioned in last chapter's Classified Information on primate cortical neuron monitoring is also real. The curious reader may look up the Wessberg, Nicolelis, et al. paper with their favorite search engine._

_Maria Vincennes is from 'Neon Genesis Evangelion RPG: The NERV White Paper'. Seymour Nunn is an astronomer mentioned in EP7 of the regular broadcast by Ritsuko, where he is stated to be involved with the second impact cover up. The author encourages you to look up their pictures if you want to see what they look like._

_Please let the author know what you thought of this chapter. See you next time._


	18. Divided we fall

Since the original Magi was deployed in 2010, efforts to replicate the powerful computational architecture has been resoundingly successful; much to the surprise of several parties. In the initial aftermath of Akagi Naoko's death, it was presumed that the technical know-how behind the computer's core-functions was lost. Fortunately, however, Naoko left behind several auxiliary backup modules – intended to serve as spare parts for the original Magi. A team led by Akagi Ritsuko, Naoko's daughter, successfully reverse engineered these auxiliary part; using the Magi computers themselves as an analytical platform. The second Magi was successfully activated at the Matsushiro Secondary Experiment Facility in late 2012 – after which deployment at various NERV branches was nigh instantaneous.

–_Classified Information File#0000017-B, item 30. "Propagation of the Magi system"; Security clearance level 2: Internally Disclosed Information_

Magi engineers can become very attached to their computers, often giving them names and waxing lyrics about their capricious temperament. Upper management acknowledges the benefit of these affections; even accepting these given names as officially recognized call-signs. The lenient convention has yielded some very flavorful, regionally influenced series name; including the Revolutions in France (Liberté, égalité, fraternité), the Three Kingdoms in China (Shu, Wu, Wei), and the Founding Fathers in the USA (Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton).

–_ Classified Information File#0000017-B, item 31. "Conventions and Call-Signs"; Security clearance level 2: Internally Disclosed Information_

* * *

How do you feel about Shinji Ikari?

That was the question at the forefront of Asuka Langley Soryu's mind. How does she feel about Shinji? The third children was a confounding character, to say the very least. In the beginning, she thought that he was an intelligent player, intentionally avoiding the dangers of Eva piloting by tactically playing truancy. That was before she finally learned what a coward he was at the dinner conversation, before he personally came to visit her in the hospital, before his tactical maneuvers effortlessly fell the fish Angel, and before she made her desperate plea to him this last weekend.

_He is a good tactician_, Asuka's brain answered; which was true and correct and an apt description of Shinji as a person. The one thing it doesn't answer was who Shinji was _to her_.

_He is nothing, _the brain replied again. _The fact that he seems to have abandoned his duty as NERV's children, choosing instead to sweet talking his way into the management, is of no consequence to me whatsoever. It might be lazy, despicable and underhanded, but at the end of the day Shinji is just another colleague in NERV and just another student in school. Nothing more, nothing less._

The shadow of doubt coughed. _If that's all he is to you, why are you even thinking about him at all? You're losing a fair bit of sleep over _just_ another colleague and student?_

_I don't lose sleep over him,_ the brain said in a successful attempt to fool nobody.

_Let's break this down step-by-step._ The shadow said as it equipped a lab coat, a monocle, and a therapist's clip-board. _How would you describe the emotions you feel towards him? Would you say that it is pity? Annoyance? Disgust? Perhaps you desire to mimic his success?_

_No,_ the brain answered. _Unlike him, I'm genuinely trying my hardest at the job. Shinji might act all high and mighty now, but soon it'll all come tumbling down and I'll be having my last laugh. So there. Shut up._

_Jealousy! Yes! _The impromptu therapist continued. _That's what it is! Could this power envy be some form of twisted affection?_ _Could you be feeling sexual attraction towards Shinji Ikari? There's only so many emotions a girl can feel towards a boy her age; one who helped you out of a sticky situation on more than one occasion! Freud said the origin of all human compulsions can be traced to the basic physiological needs. Perhaps you're waiting for a chance? A situation of high tension! A night when your guardian isn't around and a thinly veiled invitation for him to come into your-_

"Shut up!" Asuka yelled as she punched the blackboard in front of her.

With a crash, the second children snapped out of her reverie as several pieces of chalk clatter to the floor. The girl was suddenly aware of twenty-something pairs of eyes watching her back.

"That was… ah…" Asuka said as she turned to face her student. "That was… a mosquito! Yes, that was a mosquito! It's been buzzing around my head for a while now. Not anymore! Haha!"

The shadow of doubt mirrored itself across the faces of her students. Fortunately, however, the lunch bell chose that moment to announce its presence; preventing Asuka from shoving her foot any further down her mouth. As the class began to pack up – replacing any recollection of their teacher's faux pas with the image of karage and yakisoba-pan – Asuka breathed a sigh of relief; before looking to her friend and lunch companion.

"Hikari, do you want to eat together again today?" Asuka said as she approached her class-rep. "We can use the lounge if we want."

"Sorry," the freckled girl smiled shyly as she declined. "I already have an appointment for today."

"Huh? An appointment? Who are you meeting for-"

All words were stricken from Asuka's mouth as Hikari pulled out a marvelously wrapped, five-layered bento box from her school bag.

"See, I already promised someone that I'd make him lunch for today," Hikari said shyly as she stood up from her seat. "And tomorrow and the day after as well. I might not be able to have lunch with you again for a while. Is that alright?"

"I…a…" Asuka started with incredulity. "Yeah. No problem. You have your friends too. I can't monopolize your time."

"Great!" Hikari spoke with joy. "You're a true friend, Asuka. I knew you'd understand. For now, though, can you keep close eye on Maria? I usually approach the new transfer if they seem a little lost on their first day. As it stands, though, I don't talk English very well myself. Shouldn't be a problem for you after so many years abroad, right?"

Asuka looked from her friend to the fifth children sitting alone at her desk. During the initial rush to greet her, the class discovered that they knew much less English than they thought. It was clear that many students – especially the boys – were eager to get to know her better, but the language barrier was far too apparent.

"Sure," the second children answered. "I guess I can go and-"

Asuka looked back towards Hikari, only to notice that the girl had already vanished.

_I don't have a choice now, do I?_ _Screw this teacher business. How did Kaji managed to convince me it's a good idea anyways?_

"Hey," Asuka said as she approached Maria. "How do you fancy your classes so far? Understanding everything alright?"

The American pilot looked up blankly from her textbook, before recognition dawned on her face. "Oh, it's you!" Maria said. "Thank goodness. It's nice to know that at least one of the Japanese pilots isn't a complete failure. You have a bachelor's degree too, right? Help me! Surely you must understand the tedium I'm going through right now; they were teaching the Pythagorean Theorem in math, for crying out loud!"

For some reason, the way that Maria said 'bachelor's degree' really rubbed Asuka the wrong way.

"Try to ignore what's being taught, and focus on the language it's taught in instead," Asuka responded, a forced smile on her face. "And you should try to be nicer to your classmates as well. They're people too, you know: while they might not be quite the genius that you are, they're trying their hardest as well."

"Oh puh-lease…" Maria shrugged. "There's no need to mince words around me. They're all talentless suckers and you know it. Give them the rest of their lives and all these average apes will do is find an average job, marry an average spouse, have two average kids and finally die at the average age of 80 or so. The only reason either of us tolerate them is because society is run for the lowest common denominator. Try as much as they want; these people will never compare to you or me."

_What the hell?_ A flash of anger shot through the back of Asuka's cranium. _Why is this girl being such an elitist jerk? She thinks she's hot stuff just because she's got a PhD?_

"Now now," Asuka tried her best to hold back a twitch. "You shouldn't look down on the fruits of hard labor. We're in a unique position, I won't deny, but that's because we've put in the hours to get where we are. Anyone who works hard and works honestly enough will eventually get their payoff too. I mean, just take Eva piloting! You must've been training non-stop yourself before NERV-America selected you, right?"

Maria stared at Asuka in horror, before finally shaking her head with a sigh. "My word. They've completely brainwashed you too. And here I was thinking you were different."

"What did you say?"

"Still don't understand, eh?" Maria tilted her head. "Listen, there's two types of people in this world: titans and mooches. Titans create value for the human race. They're the composers, authors, scientist, entrepreneurs and engineers. Like Prometheus, their creations are the gift of fire that light the future of mankind. Mooches are like Epimetheus who, tried as he might, could never imagine the spark of culture or the burning power of rationality like his brother did; history remembers him as a mere footnote in his brother's story. Just like him, mooches can't or won't ever produce anything of true value for our culture either. It is their fear of this inferiority, their abject horror at the gap between themselves and the talented, that they shackle down their stronger-of-kin. Like parasites they burrow into the minds of their mightier brother, deluding us that hard work will one day make them our equal – that by merely losing a couple hours of sleep every night, they deserve as much praise as the people who actually produces result. When I saw your credentials, when I heard you deride the third children for squandering his talents, I thought you were a titan as well. I should've been more fearful that the parasites have already gotten to work on your brain."

Asuka could hardly believe her ears. The fiery girl stared at the blond – dumbstruck.

"But it's not too late," Maria concluded. "The worms can still be removed if you wake up soon enough. Stop betraying yourself! Stop associating your achievement with something their fruitless toil will never compare! Embrace your talents, and use it to reach a height greater than they could possibly imagine! Why care about their approval? You don't need no approval when you're successful."

"Shut up…" Asuka mumbled.

"Do you have a question?" Maria asked. "I know it can be hard to accept such a shift in perspective. I might've been in your position myself if it weren't for my mentor, if it weren't for the other titans in the American pilot pre-screening program. Take your time to digest it if you have to. I'll be here if you-"

"Shut up!" Asuka yelled.

Maria blinked. "Is something wrong?"

"Is something wrong?" Asuka barked at the girl. "You bet your ass something is wrong. What are you, stupid? Are you nuts? You try to act nice around the other children, around your classmates, around your peers; but you're rotten to the core, you know? Your head lives in a delusional world of your own, you witch!"

Maria watched, unshaken in her chair. "Strong words," the American girl answered, "but that doesn't make what I said any less true."

"That's because nothing you said was true in the first place," Asuka countered. "Only talent matters? Titans and mooches? What kind of book have you been reading? You think you're an island! A lone rock in the storm! People like you are nothing more than a pebble, quickly forgotten in the torrents of time."

"A pebble, perhaps, compared to other mighty rocks of history; but still master and lord over the beach of sand."

Asuka could stand it no more. "That's enough nonsense from you. I can't believe I spent my lunch break trying to be nice to you. I should send you to detention for that horrendous attitude. Maybe you'll learn something if you were forced to work hard for once."

Maria bowed her head. "Forgive me, Asuka-sensei. My foreign background seems to have intruded once more on the convention of Japanese obedience and conformity. For that, I must sincerely apologize."

In a flash, Asuka's right-hand had risen into position; ready to swing down onto the American girl's cheek. Slowly, however, it descended to her side once more.

"I'm leaving," the second children said as she turned towards the classroom door. "I have nothing more to say to you. My word, why am I the only sane person in the children program?"

* * *

This was the second time today that Shinji had to dig his jaws out of the floor. Even though he couldn't understand everything in the conversation between Maria and Asuka, he understood enough. The affection between the two geniuses couldn't be understated enough.

"What's the matter, Shinji?" Mana Kirishima addressed him with a worried look in her eyes.

"I think there's some tension between our old and new pilot." Shinji dryly responded. "This might be more troublesome than I thought."

"Oh, you mean Maria?" Mana turned to look at the American girl who, finally alone at her desk once more, had started munching on some sandwiches for lunch.

"You really shouldn't worry about that," the red-haired girl said with a smile. "That's totally normal when a new recruit joins a pre-existing unit."

"That's normal?" Shinji asked incredulously.

"Yeah, totally!" Mana cheerfully answered. "Especially if the new soldier is highly skilled or has some rank of their own. It takes some time to establish the pecking order, so subtle conflicts inevitably breaks out. After a couple missions, though, the tension turns into an inseparable bond, uniting them tighter than even blood siblings."

Shinji lets out a loud huff. "The only kind of missions we pilots have together are against the Angels. From the looks of things, though, I'm afraid what might happen at the next showdown."

Mana tilted up her head in contemplation. "It's true that that's a problem, but don't you guys have boot camp or something? That's where we usually work out stuff like this from my experience. The training regime, the drill sergeant, the mutual challenges that can only be overcome by working together. No sane military wants to send their army to war without adequate training. They always create some artificial adversary for the men to practice on first."

And just like that, a blow of inspiration was upon Shinji Ikari. "I see…" the boy responded. "Isn't that something, eh? You're probably right, Mana."

The girl gently smiled at Shinji's response. "You bet I'm right, Shinji. Now then, I best be off. My ride should be arriving soon, and I don't want to miss my appointment this afternoon."

"Do you want me to walk you to the front gates?" Shinji asked as a courtesy.

"Don't worry; I can take care of myself. I'll be seeing you around then!" The cheerful girl said as she departed.

For a moment, Shinji sat in his chair as he pondered his next move. Finally, a plan coalesced itself in his head, and the boy prodded the shoulder of the girl sitting in front of him.

"Rei, come with me for a moment. There's something I need your help with."

* * *

It was a good day to be Toji Suzuhara. Not only was he reunited with his (now official) girlfriend, he was treated to a five-course lunch of unimaginable delicacy; all while spinning tales of his gallantry against the Angel this past weekend. The afternoon sun was warm across the rooftop, and Hikari was playing with his hair as he rested his head on her lap. Yes, it was indeed a good day to be Toji Suzuhara. Too bad it wasn't going to last.

The door to the roof slammed open, and out marched Shinji Ikari, fuming with rage. "Toji Suzuhara! There you are! You come here right now!"

"Shinji? What happened?! Did another Angel come out to- OW!"

In his haste to get up, Toji slammed head first into Hikari's chin. The collision had Toji clutching his head in agony, and Hikari out cold on the floor.

Shinji watch the scene with indifference. "Brush it off, fourth children Suzuhara, and get on your feet on the double!"

"What is wrong with you, Shinji?" Toji slowly got up to his knee, before turning around to look at his girlfriend behind him. "Oh my god, Hikari! Holy smokes Shinji, she's out cold. What should we do? What should we do?!"

Shinji eyed the unconscious girl lying on her side, before blinking nonchalantly. "Is she bleeding?"

"No," Toji replied, "but that's not the point! Shinji, what if she hit her head or some-"

"She fell forward onto your lardass," Shinji stated. "If there's no serious bleeding from the collision, she'll live. I can't say the same about you if you don't start paying me due attention right now."

Toji's attention, however, was entirely focus on the unconscious Hikari. "Holy smokes, she's out cold. I've barely been dating her for an hour and I've already knocked my girlfriend out cold. Oh my god, I've screwed this up six ways to Sunday."

"My word," Shinji dismally facepalmed. "Rei? Ayanami Rei, come here for a moment."

Rei peered out from over Shinji's shoulder.

"Could you look after her for a while?" Shinji pointed towards Hikari. "Get her some shade and maybe a glass of water once she wakes up. And yell if she begins to stop living."

The blue girl approached the class rep, flipped her supine, and began dragging Hikari under-armed towards a nearby awning.

Shinji addressed Toji once more. "Now that your girlfriend is in good hands, do I have your undivided attention, pilot Suzuhara?"

Toji got to his feet, brushing a patch of dust from his pants. "What is it, Shinji? This had better be important or I swear I'm going to punch-"

"You bet your bloody derriere it's important!" Shinji's sudden shout cut Toji off mid-sentence. "Tonight, at 18:00 hours sharp, you are to report to the main cafeteria in NERV's mess hall, and don't you dare be one second late!"

"What the fudge?" Toji rolled his eyes in disbelief. "What on earth are you planning, Shinji?"

"I'm the one asking the questions here," Shinji retorted. "But in my eternal graciousness, I shall inform you that your senior pilots have deemed it worthy to give you a gift. Be grateful, Toji Suzuhara! You are dismissed."

For a moment, neither boy moved an inch from their position.

"Are you serious right now?" Toji finally broke the silence with a question.

"I'm not Sirius," Shinji answered. "I'm Shinji Ikari. However, I can't say the same about your girlfriend. If she hasn't woken up yet, it might be wise to get the nurse to look at her. Oh hey! Guess what? Rei is looking at me funny right now. I wonder what's going on over there."

"Holy smokes, Hikari!" Toji yelped as he dashed towards the two girls. Grabbing Hikari in a princess carry, Toji began sprinting for the stairs.

"That's 18:00 hours, pilot Suzuhara!" Shinji yelled after him. "Don't you dare forget!"

Once the dust has settled, Shinji slowly approached Rei Ayanami. "Thanks for your help. You followed your cues perfectly." The boy grinned nefariously as he spoke. "Welp, that's one down; two to go. The two girls are going to be much harder to crack on my own, though. Can I rely on you when it comes to Asuka and Maria?"

And the pale-skinned, blue-haired, red-eyed girl nodded twice in acceptance.

* * *

Sitting on the floor, Shiro Tokita could hardly believe he was still inside NERV's Central Dogma. Apparently, amidst all the modern architecture of this secret organization, someone saw fit to slip in a 4.5 tatami Japanese-style room. The paper walls, the flower arrangement in the alcove and the black cushion he was sitting on evoked a sense of timeless elegance – a simple meditative atmosphere reminiscent of an era when spending 4-hours doing nothing was an acceptable pastime.

In the middle of the room, next to a kettle dangling above a hearth, Fuyutsuki Kozo poured 3 cups of tea and placed each one in front of his guests. Picking up his cup for a sip, Shiro stole a glance at the female scientist to his left, and the foreign professor to his right.

"Please, my colleague, be at ease," Fuyutsuki said as he poured some tea for himself. "We are amongst friends here, and I intentionally chose our traditional tea room so we wouldn't be so high strung. Perhaps I should order a bottle of Sake be brought in as well?"

"That's quite alright," Shiro answered. "I was merely admiring the scroll chosen as decoration. 'Divided we fall'? I'm surprised the initial, more optimistic part of that proverb wasn't included."

"The absence only serves to highlight our present condition," Seymour Nunn lowered his tea cup. "As we are now, humanity is indeed divided. While there might not be international war anymore, there is still conflicts between groups, factions, brothers and friends. Even when we're not fighting someone else, we'd still be fighting an internal war against ourselves. It seems that human nature denies us the possibility of ever being truly united."

"But you must admit that the light of technology has joined us closer than ever," Maya Ibuki chimed in. "Could you believe that, only 25-years ago, a cellular phone was quite literally as large as a brick?"

"I remember when computers took up entire rooms and needed several skilled workers to manage them," Fuyutsuki chuckled. "To think that we have the Magi computers downstairs today."

"The Magi still takes up all the room and need several skilled workers to manage them," Maya countered – and there was much laughing and nodding.

Noticing that his guest has wound down a little, Fuyutsuki began the meeting proper. "The reason I wanted to talk to you all today is regarding the unification of our efforts. First off, I must congratulate Ms. Ibuki for the successful activations of the newly received Evangelion. If they weren't as functional as they were right off the bat, I'm not sure what we could've done against the Angel."

Maya bowed her head. "Thank you, vice-commander, but the honor goes to Professor Nunn and his team in NERV-America. Unit-03 and 04 was delivered in great condition, and aside from attaching the core, no tweaking was required for them to be combat ready."

"Please don't sell yourself short, my dear," Seymour responded. "That you can start the activations sequence within 24-hours of delivery is quite impressive. The difference that your experience make really shows."

"I'm happy to see that you two are fond of each other's work already," Fuyutsuki spoke. "This is the perfect chance to leverage both your strength and do a reorganization of our science department. With two excellent leaders amongst us, I'd like to take this opportunity to announce the formation of a new Chief of Engineering position, to operate in conjunction with the previously existing Chief of Science. The Chief of Engineering will be responsible for the maintenance and development of the Evangelion, which will allow the Chief of Science to focus solely on the technical research concerning the Angels, the Eva and the alien physiology that they seem to have in common. Maya, I hope that you will accept your promotion, and officially take the role of Engineering Chief?"

"Of course, vice-commander!" The short-haired woman answered in earnest. "It would be an honor."

"Seymour," Fuyutsuki continued, turning to address his old colleague. "It would be a joy to work alongside you once more. Will you accept the position of Science Chief?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Seymour said as he picked up his tea cup. "Let us toast this wonderful occasion. To NERV!"

Maya raised her cup as well. "To NERV," said the young scientist, before taking a sip of her own.

"Excellent," Fuyutsuki cheered. "It goes without saying, but with increased responsibility comes increased privilege and compensation. I've forwarded the relevant contracts to your personal inbox; please look at them at your earliest convenience. But let us move on, for NERV has more weaknesses that unifying our strength can overcome."

"I guess it's finally my turn," Shiro sneered. "Are you sure you want to deal with me, Mr. Fuyutsuki? It might be best if you had Gendo do the talking instead."

"Mr. Shiro, I promise that dealing with you is the last thing I wish to do," Fuyutsuki answered with disgust. "Alas, it is Gendo's opinion that you might have non-zero value to contribute; but since he is busy on some other business at this moment, I'm afraid you'll have to settle with me instead. I hope that we can be civil?"

"I won't bite if you don't bites me first," Shiro answered, which got a soft snigger from Seymour and Maya.

"In that case, why don't you share your opinion on the Evangelion platform? Part of your deal with Commander Ikari was to have IPEA and JHCI work with us to improve performance across the board. After seeing our cyborg in action the other day, do you have anything to contribute?"

"Of course," Shiro said with confidence. "Computer, please dim the lights and start the presentation."

Immediately a hologram projection began playing itself in the middle of the room, depicting each skirmish the Evas fought in Operation Overlord.

"Throughout the battle with the Angel, I noticed two fundamental problems which severely affect the Evangelion's capability," Shiro started to move about the hologram to illustrate his point. "The Evangelion has extremely limited energy. Any battle it engages in without the umbilical cord must be finished in 5-minutes tops, or 1-minute at peak performance level. This is simply unacceptable on such a crucial fighting platform."

"It can't be helped," Maya contributed. "That's simply the limits of currently existing technology."

"Of currently existing _conventional_ technology," Shiro emphasized, "something which the Evangelion most certainly is not. But I will return to this point in just a moment. The second problem with the Eva is their mobility. The 5-minute limit gives them extremely limited range, and even with the 'Fly wing' transport, extraction and motion is still restricted. This weakness is especially crippling when we're not fighting with home-field advantage which, in all honesty, should be avoided at all cost due to collateral damage."

"When did you ever start caring about collateral damage?" Seymour asked.

"When I realized they were potential customers," Shiro half-jested. "Or at least potential PR, which could then affect our customers. But why I care is beside the point. NERV cares about collateral damage, and you'll try to minimize it if at all possible; as evident from the conclusion of Operation Overlord. To do this, you'll want to engage the Angel as early and as remotely from Tokyo-3 as you can, which means mobility is key and energy is an issue."

"What do you propose as a solution?" Maya inquired.

"A two fold approach," the businessman answered, "a software upgrade and a hardware reevaluation; both of which should be possible by combining NERV technology with that of my corporation. Consider for a moment why Evangelions look the way they do. A humanoidal form is hardly optimal for extended combat, and we know from the variable form of the Angels that Evas – being based on the same material framework – doesn't necessarily have to have 2 arms and 2 legs."

"The humanoidal form is to assist the pilot in their synchronization," Maya responded. "It's hard enough as it is for them to get a high performance ratio."

"That's where the software solution comes in to play," Shiro continued. "With all its gears and hydraulics, the Jet Alone has more moving parts than an Evangelion, yet we are able to control it quite adequately using good algorithms and a moderately powerful cluster of parallel computers. Here at NERV, however, we have the Magi. Since only around 20% synchronization is required as a seed, the rest being compensated for in software, there's no reason a better algorithm can't double our efficiency; or maybe triple it."

"That…" Maya considered the proposal. "That might possibly work!"

"Furthermore, given a lower synchronization threshold, we can add additional limbs or modules to better suit the Eva for specialized combat. Imagine quadrupedal motion to cross rugged terrain! Wheels to race-off over flats! Specialized arms for higher fire-power! We could even add wings if we one day figure out how to make the damn thing fly."

"Hold on a second," Seymour interrupted. "With all your extra modules, energy is going to be a problem; and we don't have enough of it already. What do you have in mind?"

Shiro scratched his head and then, with a motion gesture, zoomed the hologram onto one of the twin Angels. "Why don't they ever run out of power?" He asked the foreign scholar.

Seymour looked at the image of the Angel, then let out a long sigh. "It's all theories and conjectures at the moment," the professor began, "but based on what I've seen, my best explanation at the moment is that the Angels have infinite energy."

"What?!" Shiro yelled. "That's impossible! I'm an engineer and even I know that's impossible; and you call yourself a physicist?"

"Listen to me first," the physicist countered. "I don't like it one single bit either, but that's what the reality of the situation seems to be pointing at. For now, all I'll say is that it looks like some physiological makeup of the Angel continuously gives it all the power it needs; a freak genetic code that endlessly outputs energy. I'm calling this mysterious coil of gene a Super Solenoid, or S2 for short. It sounds like a total hogwash of an explanation, I know. But I just… need to perform some test to verify my conjecture."

"Right," Shiro nodded with skepticism. "And I bet you'll need a live Angel specimen to figure this out."

"That would be ideal, yes."

For a moment, there was silence in the tea room as everyone considered the likelihood of that ever happening.

"Anyhow, let's talk about what I have in mind as a power solution." Shiro decided the best move for now was to move on. "Jet Alone uses a fission reactor, which is fine as a proof of concept for a machine unlikely to be piloted by a human. We don't have such liberty when it comes to the Evangelion, though I'm wondering if we can use the A.T. Field as a foundational phenomenon to build some kind of energy storage device. Energy density is a much tougher nut to crack than the mobility problem, which is why I think we should address the latter for now while keeping the former on the backburner. On the hardware side, IPEA can probably modify Unit-05's manufacturing process and deliver it before the month is over. As for the software itself, I know my algorithms inside out and, given the API, can probably port it into something Magi compatible in the same time frame; which leaves…"

At this, the business man turned towards Fuyutsuki Kozo.

"A test pilot, yes," the vice-commander nodded, "and the Magi themselves to test your code on."

Fuyutsuki turned towards Maya and, after profusely shaking his head in hesitation, explained the circumstances of Gendo's deal to the girl.

"That's… that's preposterous!" Maya yelled in disbelief. "Let JHCI have the Monogatari series? Let them run whatever code they want on it? Let them move the entire platform to area 28? No! They're property of NERV! Giving them away is completely out of the question. I… I won't allow it!"

"I'm afraid that's the order from the Senior Commander himself," Fuyutsuki shrugged, a conspiring grin on his face. "His very own exact words, nothing more and nothing less."

"In… in that case," Maya stammered. "In that case I'll… I won't help you!"

The young scientist turned towards Shiro.

"I won't help you with the computer. I can't stop you from taking Monogatari, but I won't help you either. The senior commander didn't say I had to teach him anything, right? Good luck trying to reverse engineer how it works!"

Shiro could hardly believe his ears. "Ms. Ibuki? What's the problem? Is there any particular reason you're so oppose to sharing the machine? I'll need a Magi computer to test if my code will works for the Eva, you know?"

"Then you can give me the code and I'll punch them in myself," Maya answered. "The Monogatari is NERV's computer… it's… it's Ritsuko's and mine! We put it together ourselves piece by piece. Who knows what you plan to do with it? I won't let some private contractor have it!"

Shiro's stare slowly drifted from Maya to Fuyutsuki. "You're not going to let this stand, are you?"

"I actually quite agree with Ms. Ibuki on one point," the second commander said with a thin smile. "For this job, and especially for this job, it might be easier if you let her and our science department port the code for you. The Eva is very different from Jet Alone, and the Magi is very different from conventional computers. The turnaround time would be much faster on our side."

"But we had a deal!" Shiro replied. "We had a deal that you could have my technology and code, and I could have a Magi computer! Why are we switching the terms now?"

"And you are getting a Magi computer, are you not?" Fuyutsuki tilted his head in contemplation. "I guess if you're not satisfied with the present arrangement, I can try and see if Gendo is amendable to change them. His schedule has been pretty busy lately though, and there's really nothing I can do to change that."

It took every fiber of will in Shiro's body to stop himself from punching the old bastard. _You could order her to help me yourself, you dirty little snake_. _I knew you hated my guts, but I didn't expect you to pull an Italian strike on me at the last second. The Magi is useless to me without the knowhow, but I have to work on my code for NERV immediately if I want to match the IPEA schedule? So much for your unity._

The CEO turned to look at Seymour who, noticing the sudden gaze on him, spontaneously succumbed to a bout of navel-gazing.

Shiro took a deep breath. He didn't want to resort to this. Social manipulation had always felt wrong when he had to rely on it the past. As it stands, however, it looks to be the fastest, easiest and possibly only way forward.

"It looks like we're at quite an impasse," the man announced. "I think tempers are flaring a little too high, and we might greatly benefit if this meeting were adjourned until later. Would anyone be opposed to reconvening here tomorrow at the same time? We'll see if a compromise can be reached at that point."

"I'm not opposed," Seymour suddenly acquiesced. "It's getting late, and I need to meet with Maria to start our move in process."

"Then let us reconvene tomorrow," Fuyutsuki concluded. "Thank you for your marvelous contributions, Mr. Shiro. I shall prepare a write up of this meeting for the senior commander immediately; perhaps he might get to skim it later tonight if he has some time off."

_Perfect_. "Actually, I was about to propose that we head out to celebrate a little. You know, what with two new department chief appointed. There's this really nice pub in Tokyo-3 that I'd been meaning check out myself. Won't you all come along? First round's on me."

"Afraid I can't do that," Seymour shrugged. "Can't leave my lovely mentee alone in our new abode. Plus there's quite a bit of unpacking still left to take care of. Don't worry about me. I'll be celebrating plenty myself at home."

"I will have to decline as well," Fuyutsuki answered. "There's the report and, after that, some weekly correspondence that needs to be written up. One letter to the mayor, one to the defense forces, one to the stock exchange…"

"I guess you're the only one then," Shiro turned towards Maya. "What do you say? A promotion doesn't come around often in a bureau like this."

Maya had no response; still shock at the sudden change in situation.

"Go on!" Seymour urged. "You're a young girl, and I know you've been working hella overtime to wrap up the Matsushiro activation. Unwind a little! I know this man and his reputation: mark my words, he's as safe as they get."

Shiro stole a quick glance at Seymour, just in time to notice a conspiring wink. And in a flash, it was gone.

_I don't know what you're after, professor, but you have my thanks for now_.

Maya looked confusingly between the commander, the professor and the business man. "I… guess I can relax for a couple hours tonight." the young scientist finally conceded. "Nothing too late though! I need to get up bright and early tomorrow."

Smiling at his minor victory, Shiro slowly got up and adjusted his shirt hem. "Not to worry, I have a self-imposed curfew myself. My car is parked in the garage, so let's meet there in half-an-hours' time. Mr. Fuyutsuki, Mr. Nunn. Good luck with your work this evening, and I shall see you all again tomorrow."

And with a slide of the screen door, Shiro stepped out of the Japanese room, slipped on his shoes, and left to prepare for the second phase of negotiation.

* * *

The sun had begun to set on Tokyo-3 when Kaji Ryoji rang the bell in front of Misato's apartment. This wasn't the first time he came to visit since his return from Germany, though every occasion thus far has ended in utter failure.

"Misato, are you home?" Kaji yelled from in front of the door.

There was no response.

"Come now! Isn't the silent treatment kind of cold? And to think I came to visit as soon as my inspection was done in Gotenba. There was some big memorial service going on or something, so the traffic out there was nuts! The drive took me almost 4-hours!"

Again, there was no response.

"Hello, Misato? Are you alright? Look, I heard about what happened during Operation Overlord, and I was worried. Can we talk for a bit?"

Kaji pressed his ears against the door, and heard… a soft, repeated squawking sound.

"Misato, are you alright?" Kaji said as he tried the door knob for completeness sake. _That's odd. The door is unlocked._

"I'm coming in." The man yelled as he opened the door. Immediately the scent of trash and alcohol smashes itself into his nose. "Jeez, Misato," Kaji said as he navigated around a pile of unopened cardboard box. "You're not in college anymore, you know! If you want to settle down and have a family someday, you've gotta learn to take care of your-"

Kaji slid open the living room door, and froze in his tract. There, in the middle of the room, the body of Katsuragi Misato lie, surrounded by empty containers of beer and alcohol. The local pet penguin, trapped beneath a collapsed coffee table, cried desperately for help – unable to come to its master's aid.

"Oh my god, Misato!" Kaji dashed up to his old friend, and felt for a pulse. _Good, she's still here_. Turning the unconscious woman face up, Kaji began vigorously shaking her while flicking at her upper cheek.

"Hey, Misato! Answer me! Wake up!"

No response.

"Oh my god," Kaji exclaimed as he looked wildly around the room. Seeing no other choice, the gruffly man picked up Misato in both arms, and started for the door.

"I'm gonna get you to a hospital, Misato, so don't you dare do anything stupid. Hang in there, alright? Misato! Misato!"

* * *

Katsuragi Misato awoke with a start. She seems to be in a gently lit hospital room, snuggly tucked in between sterile white sheets. The closed curtain denied any effort to discern what time of the day it is. No major pain, injury or discomfort.

Hold on. Cancel that last train of though. The headache. Oh god the headache. Argh.

"Welcome back, sleeping beauty."

Misato turned to look at the source of the voice, only to see Kaji Ryoji sitting there beside her bed. The gruffly man put down his reading, before picking up a small tray on the night stand.

"Water and Ibuprofen," Kaji indicated as he placed the tray on her lap. "Should help with the hangover a little. Sorry, but no cold shower just yet."

"Errg. What's that?" Misato groaned as she pointed towards an old-fashion glass half-filled with amber colored fluid.

"Single malt scotch whisky," Kaji answered as he picked up the glass from the tray. "That's for me. No hair of the dog for you. We both know it doesn't work anyways."

A pained chuckle escaped from Misato's lips, followed by a moment of silence as she gulped down her medicine.

"Just like our college days, eh?" Misato said wistfully as she passed the tray back to Kaji.

"Time sure flies," the man answered, "except now you have no excuse for alcoholism anymore."

"I'm not an alcoholic," Misato denied, a soft smile slowly spreading across her lips. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much. I'm not a kid anymore."

"Of course," Kaji nodded. "Only a woman like you could stare the truth in its face and still tell a lie."

"Shut up!" Misato shouted. "Women lie and that's the truth. You should know better than to fall for that, Kaji."

"In general, yes. But I can never tell when it's you who's lying, Misato."

Misato looked at the man beside her for a moment, before turning towards the pale white ceiling once more.

"You know I was lying, right? When I broke up with you. When I said there was someone else."

"No."

"I'm sorry," Misato continued. "I just… I was scared. I was scared of what I wanted, scared of what I saw in you… scared of who I was becoming."

"It was what you needed at the time," Kaji replied. "Don't blame yourself."

"No!" Misato abruptly sat up. "That's not it! That's not it at all! I was scared because you were… you were so much like my father. I was scared that I needed someone like him!"

Kaji didn't really reply. He sat and listened.

"You were both so passionate… so driven. My father had his job, and you have your truth. You would've both dropped everything if it meant you could get one step closer to your goals. I… can't stand myself who was attracted to that."

Only accepting silence from the man next to her.

"And the worst part was, I began to see myself going down that road as well. I joined NERV to refocus myself – to get away from what I was becoming; only to realize that both my father and you were in NERV already! Look at where I am now! My life is a wreck! I have no friends and I live alone in a trashed up apartment with a pet penguin! But I'm not like you or father; I had one job to do but I couldn't even do it this weekend! Then I ran away from that by drinking until I got alcohol poisoning. I didn't take a single step forward from my college days; I've even fallen backwards!"

"It's not your fault," Kaji spoke. "The situation was beyond your control. There was nothing you could've done."

"But that just means I'm powerless!" Misato yelled in response. "I tried to run away from my father and I failed. So I tried to become more like him and I failed again!"

"That's enough"

"I'm a powerless coward. I have the fate of the world in my hands but I'm a powerless coward! Who am I to save the world? I can't even save myself!"

"I said that's enough."

"I used my father to define who I am. When that didn't work I threw him away and used you. I can't do anything by myself at all!"

"Enough, Misato!"

"I'm so messed up! I'm so worthless! I'm so-"

In that moment broad shoulders embraced Misato, and strong lips pressed down onto hers. In that moment the progress of time halted. None of the universe mattered except for the two in that room.

After what seemed like eternity, the two parted.

"Don't ever say you're worthless." Kaji said. "Don't ever do it in front of me."

"But-"

And his lips were upon hers once more. Misato's arm – raising up in protest – halted. Stalled. Then fell back softly to her side.

* * *

_Hello there! A.T. Fields here. Thanks for tuning in!_

_The last scene was a retelling of one of the author's favorite scene from the series. A little glimpse as well into how Misato might've turned out if Shinji never moved in. The author hopes the reader found it interesting._

_This chapter and the next will be closely tied to each other. Please look forward to it. If you've enjoyed the story so far (or not), please let the author know in a review. He appreciates every one._


	19. The lowest forms of life on earth

The most important organ in an Eva is, surprisingly, not the brain inside its head, but rather the luminescent core located in the upper abdominal area. As long as the core is protected, the Eva can survive from devastating damage; including but not limited to outright decapitation. Stranger still is that, despite this seemingly vital connection, it is possible to extract a core from an Eva with no long-term effect to either; both Eva and core merely enters a non-responsive stasis state until they are reunited. From the perspective of Project-E, the core serves as a signal distribution center – rerouting pilot synchronization signal to the various muscles and organs inside the Evangelion.

–_Classified Information File#0002015-C, item 44. "Evangelion Anatomy"; Security clearance level 3: Classified Information_

Despite being one of the first individual alien organ that humanity could manufacture, several mysteries still surround the exact nature and functionality of the Evangelion core. The subject of a vibrant metaphysical biology research scene, it is necessary to control access to these enigmatic objects due to the potential of abuse. Consequently, NERV maintains a monopoly over production and distribution of Eva cores; shipping them out to various branch agencies whenever the necessity arise. Any party interested in formal academic study of these objects should submit a written proposal to the chief scientist of their local NERV branch; who will schedule an interview within 3-4 business days to verify the integrity of their suggested research.

–_Classified Information File#0002015-B, item 46. "Ongoing IPEA Research: the Core"; Security clearance level 2: Internally Disclosed Information_

* * *

"Say 'ahhh'!"

"I can't do that! That's too embarrassing!"

"Nope. You're not getting away from this. Girlfriend's prerogative. Now sit down, shut up, and say 'ahhh'."

It was a good day to be Hikari Horaki. Not only did Toji finally officially ask her out, but she also got a chance to show off her more 'domestic' side as well. That her stringent duty as class representative often obscured her more feminine charm has always been a slight complex for Hikari; constantly checking on slackers doesn't exactly bode well with the guys. Today, though. Today, she was going to have it all.

"That was amazing, class-rep! Where'd you learn to cook like that?" Toji said as he finished off the last of his bento box.

"I've always cooked for my two sisters," Hikari answered with pride. "Big sis Kodama works a ton to look after us, and Nozomi – well, Nozomi doesn't really understand the meaning of balanced nutrition yet. Managing our food consumption is the least I can do for the family."

Toji arced his eyebrows in surprise, before letting out a gentle smile. "You have it pretty tough too, eh?" the boy mumbled as he wrapped up the empty bento boxes. As soon as he finished, Toji deftly slid across the picnic mat to his girlfriend's side and laid down with his head on her lap

"Ai! What're you doing?!" Hikari yelled in surprise.

"Boyfriend's prerogative. I reserve the right to monopolize your lap. Deal with it and play with my hair or something."

"My my," Hikari protested, but gently began brushing her hand through his locks.

Looking up at his girlfriend's soft smile, and beyond to the billows of cloud against a picture perfect blue sky, Toji closed his eyes in contentment.

"You know," the boy slowly began after several seconds of silence, "I'd been thinking a lot since the operation last Saturday."

"Really?" Hikari noded. "That's good. Thinking is good. You don't seem to do it much as far as I can tell."

"Hey!" Toji chuckled. "Seriously now. Getting inside an Eva, fighting an Angel and putting one's life on the line can make a man stop and take a long hard look at who he is."

Hikari nodded once more.

"I mean, I had no idea what we were fighting for until last Saturday. Did you know we almost resorted to the N2-solution when the Angels beat us down to an inch of surrender? They would have done it too if it weren't for some mad foreign scientist and his crazy schemas."

"Are you sure you should be telling me this?" Hikari asked, alarmed.

"It's fine. Turns out the egghead got a couple things right, and we didn't need the N2 bomb. My point though, is that while we were fighting the Angel down, I had a chance to see Rei, Asuka and Maria in action up close. They're really good."

"Of course they are. They're NERV elites, just like you."

"No, not like that. Asuka was molding her A.T. Field like putty, Maria knew Jiu-Jitsu or something and Rei looked like she could do it all in her sleep. My point is that the other pilots are good… really _really_ good."

Hikari looked down at her the boy in her lap. "There must be something you did well too, right?"

"The only things I've mastered so far is the charge, the bum-rush and the Banzai attack. With the kind of stakes at play here, with the level the other pilots are at, that's just not enough."

Toji reached up a hand to block out the sun, before clenching it into a fist.

"I have to get stronger. I'll do whatever it takes. I'll ask Shinji for help, ask Maria for training, ask Asuka for guidance. I'm even willing to ask that Mana girl about if she'll teach me any of that JSSDF kung-fu. It's the only way I can protect what's important to me."

Hikari smiled as she gently ran her hand through the boy's head once more, before bending down to whisper in his ears.

"Easy now, hotshot. Start boiling your blood like that, and I'll start getting turned up as well."

Instantly the pomp in Toji deflates, and the boy shyly turned away with a little red on his cheek. Seeing such sight, Hikari couldn't help looking up in embarrassment as well.

"Hey, listen," the class rep finally managed. "What're you doing later this evening?"

"I'm planning to head down to NERV's hospital and check on my sister," Toji answered – still hesitant to resume eye contact. "Ever since they moved her in, her condition has been improving by leaps and bound. I'm planning to smuggle in something nice for her to eat as well."

"Rejected!" Hikari taps her boyfriend on the forehead. "Sakura-chan, right? If the hospital allows external visitors, I'll go with you. I've wanted to meet her for a long time, and Kodama works at a café with really great Strawberry Cheesecake."

Toji blinked. "I thought you said no smuggling?"

"It's not smuggling if all goods are declared," the class-rep held up her finger in chastisement. "And besides, we girls like to bond over cake and tea anyways. Girlfriend's prerogative. When should we meet?"

"How about 5:30 in front of the station? I have some stuff I need to take care of beforehand."

"Great! Should give me plenty of time to pick up the sweets. Do you want anything for yourse-"

Suddenly the door to the rooftop slammed open with a thud. From inside, a fuming rage demon from the ninth circle of hell began marching out towards the couple.

"Toji Suzuhara!" The hell-spawn yelled. "There you are! You come here right now!"

Hikari Horaki could hardly contain her shock at Shinji Ikari. Sitting up, the majestic class-rep prepared to rip the boy a new one when suddenly, oh so suddenly…

"Shinji? What happened?! Did another Angel come out to- OW!"

And the pain was the last thing Hikari remembered.

* * *

"Oh no!"

"Kaede! What'd you do this time?"

"I totally forgot to write a report for Master Shinji. He's going to be so mad!"

"… Oh no!"

Aoi Mogami leered at her two friends across the office.

"Are you two really taking this seriously?" the stern girl asked. "You do remember that it was the senior commander himself who ordered us to accommodate master Shinji, right? Mess this one up and the boss will be having our heads."

"Wahh!" Kaede cried out in despair.

"Help us, Aoi Mogami!" Satsuki begged her friend. "You're our only hope!"

"Hopeless," Aoi shrugged; before launching a word processor on her laptop. "Fine, fine. I'll help you out this time, but you owe me one alright?"

"Yay!" Kaede and Satsuki cheered in unison, before gathering around their savior.

"Thank you so much!"

"We'll buy you a cake tomorrow if we can finish up before our deadline."

"Strawberry Cheesecake," the bespectacled bunny smirked, "two slices from Café Echo, one from each of you. So what's going in this report?"

"Well, Shinji told us to figure out what the contact experiment was all about," Satsuki started. "He was convinced that some hints would turn up during the shakedown activation."

"So? Any hints? What do we know about the contact experiment?"

"That's the problem. We were on a lookout for anything unusual, but the shake-down activation was pretty much textbook through and through. Well, aside from the Angel attack; but that's probably more of a coincidence than anything else."

"Yeah," Kaede chimed in. "We loaded the pilots, flipped the switch and – except from a blip when Unit-03 booted – nothing really out of the ordinary happened."

"A blip?" Aoi questioned. "What's a blip? If it wasn't in the manual, did it happen again with Unit-04?"

"A blip refers to a brief spike in our monitor readings," Satsuki explained. "It could've been caused by any number of things; could be a pilot entering a panic attack, or could someone poking at a wire socket funny. It never happened again, and subsequent diagnostics didn't reveal any system faults. Since Unit-03 and 04 are essentially identical on our spec sheets, any difference were probably caused by the pilot themselves."

"Ooh! There is one other thing that's different," Kaede remarked.

"One thing?" Aoi scratched her head, "what's that?"

"We had to load the core into Unit-04 on-site, whereas Unit-03 already came preassembled. It would've caused a huge delay but we still managed to do it in record time! We even managed to impress that foreign professor!"

"Why did you have to load a core into Unit-04?" Aoi asked.

"Err…" Kaede mumbled. "Because Evas need to have a core? There's no way for the pilots to synchronize to the unit if-"

There was a loud whacking sound.

"Ow! Satsuki! What was that for, you big meanie?"

"Silly girl. We all know what the core does!" Satsuki sigh. "What Aoi meant was: 'Why did Unit-03 come preassembled, while Unit-04 is DIY?'"

"That's right," Aoi nodded.

"And the answer to that is elementary," the cat-eared operator continued with confidence. "Unit-04's construction was completed much later than Unit-03, so there hasn't been time to load the core yet. Simple as that."

"How long could it take to load the core?" Aoi pressed. "We did it in less than 12-hours. Even if the NERV-2 guys worked at half our speed, it still wouldn't take more than a days."

"Ah, it's not the loading process that constrains us," Satsuki replied, "but rather physically getting the core to Unit-04 itself. You know all the unused Eva cores are kept here in central dogma, right?"

"I know. Much more efficient to centralize production, and it keeps the branches on a leash as well."

"Right. Now it turns out there's a whole bunch of red tape to cut through every time they send a core abroad; even more so if we might not get it back. Shipping to NERV-2 in the Nevada desert does takes a long time. Factor in bureaucracy and I'm not surprised the guys upstairs decided to just assemble the core at Matsushiro instead."

Aoi paused mid-type. Something was off about that argument.

"Hold on a second. You're saying they put off assembling Unit-04 due to shipping and paperwork?"

"Pretty much," Satsuki nodded.

"But if we had the time, we'd probably have shipped out the core for remote assembly just like Unit-03 and 02, right?"

"Err, yeah" Kaede agreed. "They'd probably want the engineers abroad to get some core experience as well."

"And according to the specs, Unit-03 and 04 are pretty much identical, right?"

"What are you getting at?"

"Construction of Unit-03 and 04 was scheduled ages ago, and they managed to ship a core to NERV's 1st branch in Massachusetts just fine. So why couldn't they do the same for Unit-04? With the level of control we have nowadays, it's quite straight forward to arrange so Unit-04's core arrive just in time for scheduled completion. What made management stall for so long?"

Kaede tilted her head in puzzlement. "Bureaucracy? The red tape has gotten much thicker ever since IPEA came into existence."

"Aoi is right," Satsuki explained. "Why couldn't they do the same thing they did with Unit-03? Was there some other factor at play with Unit-04's core?"

A smug smile slowly rolled its way down the face of Aoi Mogami. "Girls, I think your hint has finally produced a lead. Hate those good for nothing paper work that take up so much cabinet space? For once, that might actually play on our side."

"A paper trail!" Kaede cheered. "We can look up which core was chosen for Unit-04, the date is was decided, and maybe even a note explaining why it took them so long to make a decision.

A glint reflected off of Aoi's glasses as she nodded her head. "That's right. We know the core relates closely to the contact experiment, so the files might have some saucy information for us as well. You two get started with the filing cabinets; I'll search through the Magi backlogs myself. With any luck, by this time tomorrow we'll have one delicious report for Master Shinji Ikari."

* * *

High atop the pyramid of Central Dogma, in his solitary chamber, the unshakable commander of NERV sat alone. Gendo Ikari smiled as he read the latest report from Security Intelligence. All's right with the world indeed.

From the corner of his eye, Gendo noticed a blinking light on his console; heralding the start of his afternoon conference. With a press of a button, the windows darken and the lights dimmed. Immediately, a looming monolith appeared in midair, followed by several more until a dozen obsidian pillars surrounded the commander.

"I see SEELE itself has decided to join me," Gendo addressed the company. "Though I'm counting one or two absentees? To what end do I owe this honor today?"

"We are not here to play your games, Gendo!" the unmistakable voice of Keel Lorenz bellowed out from the SEELE stone marked 01. "Your actions as of late has been most dubious. Have you forgotten that you command NERV only because we allow you to do so? What we give, we can just as easily take!"

Gendo listened in silence, before arching his eyebrows. "I'm afraid I don't quite follow. Per your suggestions, I pressured Marduk into selecting your candidate as the fifth children, and they obliged. I allowed the JSSDF to research the Spear of Longinus, and their progress is firmly ahead of schedule. I accepted an external agent as the head of IPEA, and he is already making invaluable contributions for the cause. In that light, I assumed you gentlemen would be thrilled beyond belief. And need I remind you that we once again defeated an Angel? What more do you ask of me?"

"Do not feign ignorance!" one of the monolith retorted. "You will explain your treatment of the fifth children immediately. The pilot has a doctorate degree! Why the hell are you making her re-attend junior high? She should be training to achieve peak performance in the Eva!"

Gendo took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. _That must've been the UN representative from America_.

"Despite what you may want," the commander explained, "the fifth does not operate in a vacuum, but rather as part of a team with the other four children. Building rapport between them is essential, and there is no better arena for people their age than an institution of compulsory education. Of course, NERV abides by the will of SEELE, so if you prefer we isolate the fifth and focus solely on her statistics, I'm sure we can think up an excuse to pull her from school."

"We do not appreciate your cheekiness, Gendo," a different speaker interjected. "I'm more concerned with your actions toward the JSSDF. Why have you allowed one of their agent to openly cavort with your pilots? Despite our influence in their management, the defense force is separated from NERV for a reason! We also know that someone in your agency is leaking them intelligence as well. Do you wanted to be demoted to their level of grunt work that badly?"

"Oh, the intelligence leak? There's no need to worry about that," Gendo answered with a grin. "Everything they learn is being carefully managed by our Chief of Security Intelligence. It's all part of a plan to divert their attention from the true purpose of the Longinus Spear. While they're busy snooping into the children, who frankly doesn't know anything of consequence anyways, our own operative is carefully tracking their R&D department. There's frankly no better way to ensure the Spear is being deployed on our terms, without expending any of our funding and resources. Consider it a small bit of counter-espionage on our pawn; a schema to ensure they remain firmly under our control."

"Speaking of pawns, what are you doing with the new head of IPEA?" a member of SEELE spoke. "As soon as he arrived, you struck some sort deal with him. What is the point of this arrangement? What are you trying to accomplish?"

"I'm merely exploiting him to his highest potential," Gendo replied. "I'm making sure he has no reservation when it comes to Eva work – at negligible cost to us. Right now, my second-in-command is downstairs convincing him to divulge any tricks he might've brought along from JHCI. I've even asked Fuyutsuki to put on a little show of resistance; something goading enough so that, when it is inevitably overcome, Shiro might drop his guard long enough to reveal his prized control algorithm. If I am successful, we may finally have the missing ingredient to Ritsuko's dummy plug system. All because I gave a disinterested third-party a small stake in NERV's operation."

"We selected Shiro as the IPEA head specifically because he is a disinterested third-party!" Keel Lorenz bellowed. "He was our compromise to you; to spilt NERV and IPEA so no agency has absolute rule over the Eva! Shiro would've functioned as a completely neutral liaison, but now that neutrality is completely undermined. Are you trying to test our generosity, Gendo?"

Gendo blinked. "I'm sorry? I was optimizing towards our mutual goal. Surely you must agree that the net pay-off is worth the small shift in status quo. If you're not happy with Shiro any further, by all means fire him and find a replacement."

"A route that is closed to us, now that a formal contract exist between him and NERV!"

"That… wasn't what I intended. My apologies to SEELE, but I assumed that fulfillment of our mutual plan was the highest priority; that you wouldn't mind sacrificing a small degree of flexibility as long as it was towards our ultimate aim."

"That is the sole reason we are having this conversation with you, Gendo," the Chairman of SEELE continued. "It is only because you have defeated another Angel that we tolerate your audacity! On the other hand, know that our patience wears thin. We do not appreciate you manipulating various agencies without our approval. Do not make us regret putting our trust in you, Ikari Gendo. You are not as irreplaceable as you might imagine."

"Of course. I too wishes to see the instrumentality project succeed. It is the only way for us to be saved, after all."

* * *

"Are you completely serious about this, professor? Do I really need to go to the First's silly dinner party?"

"Yes Maria. After you exploded at Asuka during class, you will be taking every single opportunity you get to make up to the other children! My god if you hadn't screwed yourself over six ways to Sunday. What is your mission?!"

"Professor! My mission is to pilot the Eva, protect mankind and set an outstanding precedence as the first pilot of the American NERV branch."

"And how will we ensure that after you, there is a second and third Children from the American NERV branch?"

"I must mingle with my peers, learn their character and qualification, thereby figure out what the pilot selection criterion of the Marduk institute is."

"Good. Now explain to me how making an enemy of the Second Children and making a scene in front of the Third is going to help you in your efforts."

"…"

"You're better than this, Maria. You know that. There's no need to show-off to these people something you already know is true! Now last I checked the Fourth is somewhat fond of you professionally; if not personally as well. He is the easiest remaining point of attack if you want to get into their circle, so don't you screw it up again!"

"I won't, professor."

"The First children's letter said you're to meet at 18:00 in the cafeteria for a group dinner, correct? You best get going if you don't want to be late. I'll be watching how this one plays out, Maria."

"Yes professor. Thank you again for your guidance."

* * *

"You're the lowest forms of life on earth! You're not even human bucking beings! You are nothing but unorganized grabastic pieces of amphibian turd, and I eat pieces of turd like you for breakfast!"

Toji could hardly contain his laughter. The scene before him was… bizarre, to say the least. There was only one possible response he could make to that accusation.

"Shinji, you eat pieces of turd for breakfast?"

"Well what have we got here?" Shinji said as he marched up to Toji. "A goddamn comedian! Toji Suzuhara! Do you think your sense of humor will save you in the NERV pilot program?!"

"Shinji," Asuka shouted. "What the hell are you doing?"

Shinji stopped in his track, before turning – ever so slowly – to face the Second children. "I," the boy emphasized, "am doing you all a favor! You are a pile of useless maggot swirling in the breeze. You have no direction! No cohesion! No purpose! You think you're all a bunch of big-shots but let me share some news with you morons. I may not eat pieces of turd like you for breakfast, but the Angels will!"

Toji coughed. "Shinji, you just said you _do_ eat pieces of-"

"I know what I said, thank you very much!" The boy barked. "And what I said was you all are pieces of turd! Despite your attitude, despite your achievement, despite your difference in background and upbringing, in the Angel's eye you are all equally a piece of turd! But are you a big enough piece of turd to choke the Angel while it's trying to chew you down? I don't think so! That's why we're here. Today, I will transform you into a unit! Today, we start down a road to become a singular fighting machine! They may see you as nothing more than manure, but after we're through here, the Angels will be asking themselves how they ever thought they could flush you down."

Toji watched as a wave of disgust shot up Asuka's face.

"Did you forget to take your meds again, Shinji?" the girl asked, before shifting her gaze towards the blue-haired girl behind him. "When I got an invitation from wonder girl, I thought we were having another dinner ceremony to celebrate the new pilots. I should've known you were behind this; the location should've tipped me off right away!"

With that, Asuka got up from her seat and started for the exit. "I'm leaving. I don't have the time of day for you and your antics, Shinji."

"Well look at her go," Shinji sarcastically shrugged. "Would someone please call a brakeman? 'cause there's no stop on the Soryu runaway express!"

The fiery girl twitched.

"That's it, idiot Shinji! You think you're such a big deal, hanging out in the command center with the management? Well, forgive me for not being impressed! You're the most conceited, pretentious, arrogant excuse for a human being I have ever-"

A sharp prod made Toji turn around, only to see the Fifth children standing behind him. "What happened?" the blond girl asked.

"That?" Toji replied. "That's Shinji Ikari. I think he means for us to do some kind of teamwork exercise, but all that's done so far was piss off Asuka."

"Teamwork?" Maria tilted her head in thought, then smiled mischievously. "Oh, yes! Teamwork exercise we will do! Ok, Mr. Samurai?"

And with that, Maria bounced up to Shinji and Asuka; who were this close to breaking out the kicks and knuckles.

"Hello!" the Fifth stepped in between feuding children. "Teamwork exercise let us do it!"

The boy and the girl looked at her in confusion, so Maria continued: "[Let's be friends! We can eat together today, and you can tell me all about yourselves! We'll all part of the same team now!]"

Seeing an opportunity, Shinji quickly collected himself. "That's exactly what I'm trying to say. Thank you, Maria. In fact, as your senior pilots, Rei and I have prepared a gift for all three of you! Aren't we generous?"

"A gift?" Toji asked. "Oh yeah, you said something about that. What are you trying to do, Shinji?

"And why the hell are you and Rei the senior pilots?" Asuka chimed in. "Last I checked, you're the Third children, and I'm the Second!"

Shinji chuckled. "That's because I got to the main branch first, and that's where the fighting really counts."

"Says the person with the least number of Angel kills in the room!"

"Technicalities. Now, do you three want your gift or not?"

"Like I want your mrrmph…mrrmph!" Asuka let out a muffled yell as Maria covered her mouth from behind. "Mmmph! Leb me ghuoo! Mmmph!"

"[Let's just see what he has for us, ok?]" Maria said softly into her captive's ear. "[What's the worst that could happen?]"

"Right then. Please take your seat, children!" Shinji announced as he marched up to the nearest long table. "Rei, would you kindly retrieve the gifts we've prepared; I'll brief our victims on their impending demise."

The taciturn girl nodded, and left the cafeteria towards… the kitchen? Toji eyed her with suspicion, before noticing that Maria had dragged Asuka to the long table and seated herself between the fiery girl and Shinji Ikari. Brushing aside the issue of Rei for now, Toji took a chair beside his two colleague.

At the end of the table, Shinji cleared his throat before resuming his pose. "Ahem. Now listen to me you bumbling numb-nuts. You think you're all the cat's meow. The dog's bollocks. The bee's knees. You think you're hot stuff? Well I eat pieces of Angels for breakfast and let me tell you something: compared to them, you're not!"

Toji coughed. "Shinji, I thought you said you eat pieces of-"

"I know what I said, thank you very much!" Shinji barked at Toji once more. "And what I said was you all are lukewarm! Second grade! Insignificant! Today I'm going to teach you a lesson on what hot really means. I'm going to show you that hell is here on earth! I'm going to-"

"Could you get to the point already?" Asuka interrupted. "And can it with the John Wayne impression. It makes me regret the fact that I know you."

Shinji took a deep breath, before letting it out in resignation. "Asuka, I'm trying to send a message here. Can you just please play along?"

"No."

"Alright." Shinji nodded. "Fine. Have it your way. We're skipping straight to the main course. Rei?!"

Immediately the room's attention turned towards the kitchen door, where Rei had entered with a trolley. Two large metallic cover hide the content of the cart, which was quickly wheeled up to the table. Without saying a word, Rei picked up one of the covered platter and placed it down in front of the trio, before placing herself and the second tray on the opposite side.

"It is true that I originally wanted to have a welcome dinner for Toji and Maria," Shinji said as took a seat next to his accomplice, "but that was before I realized how nonexistent our team cohesion actually was. Now Rei and I here already function quite well together, since we've both gone through the hell and hot water that is living with Ritsuko. Watch this. Rei, would you kindly jump?"

Toji watched as Rei did nothing except look at Shinji funny.

"See? She's asking me how high!" The second children smiled smugly. "We're so in tuned with each other, she doesn't even have to vocalize her thoughts to me. Can you guys say the same thing about each other?"

"I think Rei's just really confused," Toji explained.

"You can tell from her expression?" Shinji replied, flabbergasted. "You might not be so hopeless after all. Anyways, to remedy our piss-poor teamwork, Rei and I have come up with a challenge for you three. You may now open the gift we have prepared! Go on!"

With a hesitant sigh, Toji braced himself and removed the metallic tray cover in front of him to reveal... a large, pink, creamy cherry parfait.

"What the hell is this," Asuka yelled at the boy across from her, who was himself removing his tray cover to reveal a similar dessert.

"That is our gift and challenge to you three," the Third children replied. "If you all can finish that parfait before Rei and I finish ours, I will shut up, admit my defeat, and never bother you about this again. However…"

At this point, Shinji stood up, crossed his arm, and sneered as only an eight-grade syndrome patient could. "However… if the two of us finishes before the three of you, then-"

"Can it, Shinji," Asuka interrupted once more. "You're saying we just need to finish this ice cream first and you'll shut up forever, right?"

Shinji blink. "That's right."

"Rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub!" Asuka immediately grabbed a spoon, scooped a massive chunk of cream, and shoved it in her face.

"Oy! Hold on! There's one more ingredient to the parfait before we can start!" Shinji yelled in alarm. "And aren't you going to question whether I'd cheated and did something funny to your food?"

"Looks like a normal parfait to me," the fiery girl said between mouthfuls. "Taste like one too. If you need to add something, go ahead and do it between the scoops. I'm not stopping."

"Are you sure about that?"

Asuka ignored him. "What are you waiting for, Toji? The whipped-cream's almost gone! [Maria, come on! Dig in!]"

Shinji watched as team Asuka began scooping up the ice cream, before turning towards the girl next to him and letting out a long sigh. "Looks like they're in for a burning surprise," the boy said as he fished out a small tin from his pocket, placed it in the center of the table, and opened the lid.

Immediately the three members of team Asuka froze mid-bite. Slowly but noticeably, their lips and cheeks begin to puff and turn red. Beads of sweat form on their forehead, and puffs of steam shoot out from their ears.

"Fuuarrghh!" The three yelled out in unison, jets of flame shoot out of their mouths for added effect.

"[So… *hack* *hack*… hot!]" Maria tilted back her head and panted as she fanned her mouth with her hand. "[Blurgh!]"

"*Wheeze* *wheeze*" Toji clenched his teeth and breathed heavily through his nose.

"What the hell… *cough* *spit*… did you just do?" Teardrops were forming in Asuka's eye. "What on earth is that, Shinji Ikari! Fuhi! Fuhi! Ahh!"

"This is a spiciness marble," Shinji pointed to the round spherical object in the tin. "It is the concept of spiciness congealed and given physical shape. Just by merely being here, it emits a Baleful Spiciness field, or B.S. field for short. Think of it like one of those miracle berry fruit that turns sour tasting food sweet, except unlike the berry which has a protein that binds to sweetness receptors, the marble uses the B.S. field to acts on reality itself, perverting any flavor into deadly spiciness."

"Oh my god!" Toji said as he tried to hold back the pain. "My god, Shinji, why? Why would- arrgh! *hack* *cough* *cough* *cough*"

"If you're asking me why anyone would ever make this," Shinji explained, "legend has it that back in the early days of NERV, when it was still a bunch of labs working on various metaphysical biology topics, there was a female scientist who got irked by her boyfriend's criticism of her cooking. Apparently he said something to the extent of: 'yours is the most evil and baleful cooking that has ever been made or will ever be made in the observable universe.' The scientist took it as a challenged and after a week in the food science lab, her uncanny mastery of metaphysical biology produced this monstrosity. The boyfriend promptly submitted to the threat of one day having the spiciness marble put _physically_ into his food, and so it has been sealed away in the deepest reaches of NERV's kitchen ever since."

"I've heard that," Maria squeezed out between bouts of choking. "One of 7 mysteries of NERV. Even foreign branches whisper of them."

"Now, if you're asking me why I graciously went and dug it up for you all today," Shinji continued, "it's to teach you hotshots what true hotness is! To teach you what it's like to really be under fire! If you three already can't stand this heat, then stay out of the Eva. On the other hand, if you work together, if you egg each other on, you just might even succeed in finishing off a simple dessert! Until then, Rei and I will show you true meaning of 'team up'. Rei?"

Hearing her cue, Rei Ayanami scooped up a spoonful of the parfait.

"Hold on!" Asuka shouted. "You're not getting away with this, Shinji! Spiciness marble? B.S. field? Come on! You spiked our parfait, you cheat. That's why the sweet flavor suddenly turned a darker shade of hell!"

Shinji shrugged. "You're welcome to try our parfait if you like. Whether you think the B.S. field is real or not, you can confirm for yourself that ours is spicy as well. Conquest of this scorching dessert is an equal playing field, but you're welcome to handicap yourself by taking a bite out of our pie."

"Don't mind if I do," Asuka said as she reached over the table to scoop up a bit of team Shinji's ice cream herself. The girl brought the spoon to her mouth and boldly took a bite.

There was a flash of victory, a smile of triumph, a look of revelation that she had figured her opponent out. All this emotion shot across Asuka's face in an instant; before they turned to pain, suffering and rage.

"Arrgh! Mein gott! Puhi puhi! Fumoffu mofumofu!"

"I would say I told you so," Shinji sneered, "but I told you so. Rei, now that all protest have been settled, let us proceed with the schooling."

And team Shinji proceeded to dine on their inferno parfait as though it was anything but molten lava in a cup.

"How… is that possible?" Toji said in disbelief. "Asuka, was their parfait really as hot as ours was?"

"Worse," Asuka replied. "I don't know how that's possible, but it's worse. *hack* *hack*"

"[B.S. Field,]" Maria remarked. "[What a fearsome phenomenon]"

In complete unison, as if they had rehearsed it, both girls snapped their gaze towards Toji Suzuhara, before smiling mischeviously.

"[Mr. Samurai,]" Maria started, "[Won't you show your gallantry and put that vile scum in his place? Finish the parfait and show him how a true man does battle!]"

"Err, Maria?" Toji weakly protest. "I'm not sure what you just said, but I really don't like the tone of it."

"Toji Suzuhara," Asuka chimed in. "You're a moron as well, right? Well I looked it up and morons don't feel pain, which is the only possible reason those two look so happy with their chow. Why don't you lead the charge, and finish what we started here?"

Toji shook visibly, and tried to hold up his hand in defense. "Girls? Can we please just ignore Shinji? He's crazy like that sometimes, just let it-"

"Are you suggesting we give up without a fight?"

"[Are you suggesting we let Shinji get away with this one?]"

"Are you suggesting we can't beat a simple dessert as a team?"

"[Are you suggesting we bow to his will and stand for this humiliation?]"

"Are you suggesting we can't make it through no matter how hard we try?"

"[Are you suggesting this stupid ice cream is beyond a level that we can overcome?]"

Toji looked from the girls, to his spoon, to the cup of death. The boy took a deep breath, and resigned himself to his fate.

"You girls better keep up with me," Toji finally concluded, "We're going to show Shinji we won't take this lying down."

"Right on." Asuka nodded. "The two of them have some ground on us, so we need to catch up with all our might."

"[We have more people on our team,]" Maria stated. "[If we don't let up for the entire run, we should barely be able to beat them to the finish. On your marks.]"

"[Get set,]" Asuka responded.

"[Go!]" Toji concluded, before the three lunge in to attack the deadly dessert.

And the pain was the last thing the three of them remembered.

* * *

Outside the cafeteria door, a hidden figure look in on the act of self-immolation. Satisfied that the scenario has played out the way it did, the shadow turned to leave; only to bump into a second figure standing behind him.

"Oh, it's you, Kozo, didn't see you there."

"Do you still derive enjoyment from watching the suffering of your charges, Seymour?"

"Not particularly, though I could ask the same of you myself. Tell me, is that really the spiciness marble and the B.S. field?"

"Don't be silly, Seymour. The real spiciness marble has been sealed away forever. I was there myself when they did away that monstrosity for good. Shinji must've pulled some other kind of trick to spice those parfait. He's just resorting to the legend as a misdirection."

"So you mean… the B.S. field is real?"

"Yes, though I wish it weren't. The only good that thing ever did was teaching me to be aware of my grad-students' extra-curricular research at all time. Although if you considered why she made the darn marble in the first place, you could say it did achieved its purpose."

"Revenge on her boyfriend?"

"Yes. She had him eating out of the palm of her hands after that; though that's part of the reason why the marble will probably never see the light of day again."

"Fascinating. NERV sure as a lot of myth from its early days."

"You've seen nothing yet, Seymour. Let me tell you about the 6 other mysteries from the day of our foundation."

The moon shown hazily through a cloudy blanket, drowning out the sky with its soft silver glow. Atop the tallest sky-scraper in Tokyo-3, Maya Ibuki leaned over the railings of the balcony; looking down upon a second sea of stars below. Though light pollution from the growing metropolis made it difficult see the heavens even under the clearest conditions, from where she stood Maya could almost fool herself into thinking otherwise. The stars have merely inverted; descending down onto the earth itself so that humans might walk amongst the infinities.

Sipping her glass of Cosmo, Maya reflected on the path she'd taken to get to where she stood today. The innocent child, scarred by hunger wrought about by the second impact. The bright-eyed teenager, enchanted by the possibility of Japan and humanity's revival. The speechless college graduate, hardly believing her eyes as she tore open an acceptance letter to her dream job. Her days as a recruit. Her days as Ritsuko's assistant. Her days as ace operator.

And now, her coming days as the new head of NERV's engineering.

Maya drained her drink, and swallowed down her jitters in the same gulp. Placing the empty glass on a table nearby, Maya returned to her companion, who was enjoying another angle of the view from the adjacent lounge.

"What a sight, eh?" Shiro said as he noticed Maya's approached. "I'll have to give Sadamoto a call and complement him on the aesthetics. The man really knows how pull out the beauty of the setting. How're you doing?"

"Thanks for bringing me out here," Maya said as she took a seat across from the man, "though I still can't believe you meant the Shin-Tokyo Sky Breeze when you said there's a bar you wanted to check out. How did you ever get us pass the door man?"

"JHCI is one of the major investors in this building," Shiro explained, "and I promised Sadamoto I'd check out his newest work since I'm now stationed here in Tokyo-3. It works out for me as well, don't fret too much about it. Is it time for the carriage to turn back into a pumpkin?"

"Just about," Maya nodded, "though the carriage can keep its shape until you finish that bottle of Champagne."

"Thank you," Shiro smiled, and refilled his glass once more. Noticing a bit of liquid left in the bottom of the bottle, the CEO grabbed an empty glass from a nearby tray, filled it up, and slid the container towards Maya. "Congrats again on making department head," Shiro said as he lifted his glass in salutation. "You've finally made it this far on your own. What's next?"

"We fight the Angel and save the human race, I guess?" Maya said clinked her glass to Shiro in reciprocation. "I mean, I'm not really sure… Suddenly what Ritsuko said about being the one-eyed woman in the land of the blind makes sense. I might be the most knowledgeable woman when it comes to Eva maintenance now that she's gone, but… but it still feels like there's this massive cliff between me and her. It feels like there's this-"

"Nonsense." Shiro interrupted.

"Huh?"

"You're about to be the head of a department, Maya." Shiro continued. "You're about to become a leader of men. Your engineers are going to look up to you for guidance. How do you plan on show them the way if you don't know where you're going yourself?"

"I… but…" Maya suddenly felt like her brain has slowed to a crawl. Apparently all those late night is finally catching up to her. "I… I've always did what Ritsuko told me to do. I've always just done what was asked of me. I mean… I'm just engineering head! I'm don't have to do politics or policy, right? I just fix the Evas!"

"That's where you're wrong, Maya," Shiro explained. "Every leader must have a goal, not just the man at the very top. You think you're just fixing the Eva? No! You're fixing humanity's ultimate weapon, and you do so with such workmanship, the Eva functions better than the day they rolled off the manufacturing line; all done in record time of course. You're just engineering head? No! You're head of the most high-tech engineering corps in the world, and you work on the most advance technology our specie has ever created; again, with the lowest delay and error statistics. That's the kind of resolve you need to lead your men, Maya. Any less would be doing them a grave injustice. "

Maya looked at the man across from her in amazement, then hesitantly turned her gaze downward. "I know," the girl responded. "I know that, but… I'm not like you, Shiro. I'm not like Ritsuko. I'm not amazing like you guys. I… it's hard!"

"Listen to me, Maya!" Shiro lowered his glass with a clang. "You think I was born knowing how to lead? You think Ritsuko was born knowing what to do? No! Let me tell you a story, dear. When I was a fledgling entrepreneur, I faked every ounce of confidence I showed. That's right! I faked it until I made it, at which point my confidence became real. I had no other advantage above my competitors, but I did it anyways. That's why I can confidently say I earned every bit of success I found. I'm sure your Ritsuko was the same."

"Yes, but…" Maya stammered. "But how?! What you said was just that, talk! What am I actually supposed to do?!"

"That's it," Shiro smiled. "That's the right question to ask. You look up to Ritsuko, right? Ask yourself this: why does she do what she do? Not what she does, but why. Once you understand the 'why' behind her actions, the 'what' will come naturally to you."

"That's…"

"Answer me, Maya. Why does Ritsuko do what she do? Why is she in NERV? Why does she lead mankind's most advance science department in our darkest hour?"

"Because…" Maya started, then straighten up as a wave of comprehension surge within her. "Because she knew what had to be done. Ritsuko believed in the character of mankind, she believed that we were worth saving, and she believed the only way to do so was to embrace technology. I mean… I mean…"

Maya paused, then turned aside to point at the sprawling view below them.

"I mean, look at that. Look at our achievement! Look at the light of civilization! Look at how far we've come, and how far we still have to go!"

Shiro grinned, and turned to look a sleepless metropolis as well. "On that point, I agree completely with your Ritsuko. It is our intrepid spirit of daring. It is our willingness to take risk and damn the consequences. Ever since man decided it's better to master fire than succumb to our primal fears, we've grown bigger and stronger. And we're not stopping to look back yet."

"That's right." Maya concurred. "Ritsuko wouldn't stop. She wouldn't stop until she did what needed to be done. She'd put humanity first, and do what needs to be done."

"Is that the answer you've reached?" Shiro prompted, though not without a smile on his face. "Is that the answer that Maya Ibuki has reached? Does she now know what she should resolve herself towards?"

"Yes, she does," Maya said with a smile. "Thank you Mr. Shiro, I don't know what I'd have done without your advice; and… sorry."

"What could you possibly be apologizing for?"

"I'm sorry for exploding at you earlier today," Maya bowed. "I was only thinking about myself, about the image of Ritsuko in my mind. I didn't realize that she was also human, that she was also made up of determination, hesitation and goals. I was too busy trying to preserve her, when I should've instead been honoring her."

Shiro allowed himself a low chuckle. "All is forgiven. Thinking only of yourself is the luxury of youth. Now that you are a leader of men, do you plan to give it another try?"

"Yes," Maya resolved. "Yes…"

Immediately the girl shot up to her feet, and bowed so deeply her head almost touched the coffee table. "Mr. Shiro Tokita, please allow me to assist you with the re-appropriation of the Monogatari series. I believe it would be the greatest honor to Ritsuko's memory if her creation can serve humanity once more. I will believe in you, like she did in the spirit of humanity in her lifetime."

"Now now," Shiro held out his hand in embarrassment. "There's no need to be so formal, and it's the duty of old men to advise the younger generation. I'm just paying forward the obligations I received in my time."

"No, Mr. Shiro," Maya remained in her position; unmoved. "I was extremely rude to you earlier, but you still took me out to dinner, and gave me the advice I needed to move forward. How could I repay your kindness?"

"Just remember how you feel today when you're sitting in my chair," Shiro replied, before deftly getting up from his seat. "My god, look at the time! Let's get you back home so you're rested plenty for the big day tomorrow. Come now! Stay out too late with an old fart like me and people are bound to start asking questions."

"But…" Maya instantly straighten up in shock. "But I really enjoyed myself tonight. I really appreciate what you did!"

"That's the alcohol talking," Shiro said as he started for the elevator, "which is surefire evidence that you've stayed out way past your bedtime. Come along! You know how rich stinky old men like to take advantage of drunk girls."

"Mr. Shiro!" Maya yelled in surprise, tripping over herself as she caught up to the man.

"Which is why my chauffeur is taking you home without me," Shiro said as he whipped out his cellphone. "Besides, there's now apparently another business call I have to make tonight."

"A business call?" The girl asked inquisitively as Shiro punched in some number into his hand-held.

"Hello?" The businessman spoke into his phone; call an elevator at the same time. "Yes, it's me. Transaction is complete on my end. Tell the raid team to commence their operation."

"A raid? Mr. Shiro, what is going on?"

"Nothing to worry about," the CEO said as he stepped into the opening elevator door. "It's just that, for the past few weeks, there's been several hacking attempts on JHCI's main computer cluster. Goes without saying that we thwarted all attempts, but we've only recently back-traced this hacker to his residence. Now that we're to acquire a super bio-computer, I figured our hacker needed a stern talking to."

"Is he going to get arrested?" Maya asked; her disdain for black hat hacker immediately apparent.

"Nonsense! Turn a computer wiz that big over to the police? Utter nonsense. I'm going over to offer him a job and, more importantly, to prevent Mr. Aida from committing a crime-of-passion upon his precocious son."

* * *

Asuka Langley Soryu awoke with a start. She seems to be in a gently lit hospital room, snuggly tucked in between sterile white sheets. The closed curtain denied any effort to discern what time of day it is. No major pain, injury or discomfort.

Or so she thought. That lasted until she felt it.

At a speed which would make the Flash himself proud, Asuka leapt out of her bed, shot out of the room, dashed down the hallway and slammed into the first cubicle of the first female bathroom that she could find.

It was then that Asuka knew pain like she never had before. A damn had burst somewhere, and the torrent of lava it was holding back rushed forth with a vengeance. The rupture was nigh fatal, though Asuka wishes it actually was.

Catching her breath, Asuka barely noticed a painful groan coming from the stall next to her. Resisting the urge to scream, the fiery girl managed to squeeze out a barely audible sentence. "Maria… is that you?"

"Hrrngh. Don't… talk to me… Hrrrgh!"

A low rumble seem to emanate through the wall, followed by a cry of agony.

"Damn that Shinji!" Asuka said through clenched teeth. "I swear, I'm going to kill him so hard, he dies to deaaarrrgh!"

There was a sound of fist punching porcelain, followed by an ominous silence.

"Damn straight, sister," Maria finally spoke out. "I might not agree with you on everything, but when it comes to Shinji, he is the lowest of low. The maggots of maggot. He doesn't have no talent, he has negative talent. His mere existence is dragging all of us down to heeeeccckkk!"

The rage seething through the air was almost palpable.

"That lying cheat…" Asuka huffed. "The lazy bastard! Let's team up, Maria. We'll put his rotten ass in its place. Let's team up and destroy him!"

"You're on, Asuka." Maria replied. "As soon as we get out of here, we're going to… *wheeze* We're going to FWWUAAAGH!"

"HHHRRRNNGGHHH!"

And thus ends the story of how Asuka Langley Soryu, through a close encounter with the antics of Shinji Ikari, learned two very important lessons. One: that she hated the boy with the burning passion of a thousand splendid suns. So much so that she was willing to look past the extreme narcissism of Maria Vincennes and crush their common adversary in tandem.

The second lesson – something more in line with what Shinji had in mind – was possibly more humbling though no less important. On that day, Asuka Langley Soryu learned, once and for all, the true meaning of the word 'hot shit'.

* * *

_This chapter took longer than the author expected. Amongst other things, he had much difficulty making sure the story was funny without being too juvenile; but it got to the point where he'd rather move on to more interesting stuff, and to hell with how childish the jokes are. If you didn't find this chapter particularly funny, the author apologizes and ask that you return next time for more standard H.I.P. faire._


	20. A game-winning move

To increase the versatility of the Evangelion, IPEA has developed several types of specialized equipment – mostly to assist in combat scenario under unconventional situations or terrain. Generally speaking, the B-type equipment is regarded as the optimal balance between speed, durability, energy efficiency and stopping power; hence its selection as the standard load-out. Circumstances can, however, push other sets of load-out to shine above the B-type gear. As an IPEA engineer, it is your duty to be familiar with all the available equipment type. A handy reference chart is provided below. See individual pages for detail.

Equip...Atk...Def...Spd...Erg...Note

B-Type... A ... A ... A ... A ... Standard load-out  
D-Type... C ... S ... D ... S ... Extreme condition load-out  
F-Type... S ... S ... B ... C ... Melee combat load-out  
G-Type... S ... A ... D ... B ... Precision shooting load-out  
R-Type... B ... A ... B ... B ... Marine load-out  
S-Type... B ... B ... S ... B ... Aerial assault load-out  
U-Type... A ... A ... S ... D ... Zero gravity load-out

All equipment are designed to comply with production model standard. Backwards compatibility may vary.

-_Classified Information File#0002015-B, item 19. "Specialized equipment"; Security clearance level 2: Internally Disclosed Information_

* * *

Captain Katsuragi Misato slammed down on the table. "This is madness! This is suicide! I cannot protest strongly enough!"

Around her, the darkened meeting room stared back with ruthless brutality. The hastily assembled slide-show lit the room with an ominous glow; illuminated the other five members of the conference.

"But you must understand, Captain Katsuragi," the accent-tinted voice of Seymour Nunn countered. "This is a chance of a lifetime- no, a chance unmatched in history!"

"Like it or not, we must go through with it," Fuyutsuki Kozo explained. "The number of lives we could save. The number of years we could shave-off our research. The pay-off from this operation is completely unprecedented; rivalling the creation of Eva or the Magi System themselves."

"But commander," Misato objected again. "If something goes wrong, we could lose our entire fleet as well. The risks are too great; we can't rely on reckless abandon on something this precarious."

"Captain Katsuragi," the voice of Maya Ibuki was filled with resolve. "We'll be operating completely within acceptable error guidelines. All three production model Eva, as well as the newly retrofitted Unit-00, are fully compatible with the D-type equipment. Our pilots will have plenty of safety margin should anything go wrong."

"One must brave the tigress' den to catch her cubs," Shiro Tokita quoted. "There's no reward without risk. Every investor knows this. Based on the information we have. Based on the gears at our disposal. Based on the scenario at play. Can you honestly say we're taking too exorbitant a risk for the reward?"

Misato turned to look at the image on screen, and clenched her fist in frustration. "Makoto, please repeat to me the exact scenario we're facing again."

"Yes ma'am," the bespectacled operator saluted. "At 0500 this morning, the seismic monitoring outpost at Mt. Asama recorded unusual tremors incompatible with any known geothermal activity. 0600 hours, deep earth sonar probe shows an unidentified object at least 3000 cubic-meters in volume, deep within Mt. Asama's main shaft. First Lieutenant Agano, Ooi and Mogami was on call, and responded to the alert within 3-minutes. They immediately left to establish field command, which was completed by 0630 hours."

"Shinji's bunnies are quick on their toes as always," Fuyutsuki sniggered.

"At 0730 hours, a sonar probe reached 1500 meters of depth, before succumbing to ambience pressure. Prior to signal termination, 12-seconds of wave-particle entanglement was conducted. Blood-pattern: blue, with 95% confidence."

"That," Misato yelled, "is what you're sending our pilots up against! An Angel, a kilometer-and-a-half beneath one thousand degrees of molten lava! And we have no idea what mad abilities this one might end up having! Commander, I urge you to reconsider our strategy. It's much more prudent to post guards about the caldera, and engage only if it aggresses us. There's no way it could ever get to Terminal Dogma in its present state anyways!"

"Precisely because it's in a dormant state," Seymour retort, "is why we must go after this one now! We might never get another chance to capture a live Angel sample! Why, if we can figure out the S2 organ, the fight could be over by next month!"

"That's still too risky!" the black-haired captain screamed. "Commander, you know I'm all for audacious plans. Look at my track record, for crying out loud! Between Operation Yashima and Overlord, though, I've learned my lesson: the Angels defy intuition! We have to go with the safest plan in our arsenal, then prepare for even worse!"

For a moment, silence flood the meeting room. All eyes turned towards Fuyutsuki, who rubbed his chin in contemplation.

"I can see the merits of your point," the vice-commander finally spoke, "but ultimately, this is a chance we cannot pass up."

"Commander!"

"Seymour, Maya," Fuyutsuki continued, "since this is a specimen collection operation, the science and engineering department is in charge of all logistics. The chief of operations will act as a consultant for the job, but you two have authority over any precautions you want to take. Any questions?"

"Sir!" Maya saluted. "The engineering department will gear up Unit-00, 02, 03 and 04 for the operation! We should be ready to scramble by 1000 hours!"

"Thanks, Maya," Seymour grinned. "You can leave the analysis work to me. I think I've got a pretty good idea how we can trap the Angel and move it out of the lava."

"Mr. Seymour, Maya," Misato tried to get their attention, "You guys have to rethink this plan! What if the Angel dives deeper than the pressure limit on the D-type gear? What if the coolant system burst?! What if any one of a thousand things go wrong?!"

"Captain Katsuragi," Seymour snapped, "I assure you that, in the event of something going wrong, we can evacuate the pilots and the Eva soon enough! On the other hand, the possible gain is so massive, I would insist we replace any casualties we suffer and try again immediately; even if that includes all four Evangelions! It's that big a deal!"

Misato stared, stunned.

"That's my opinion as one-half of the science department," Seymour concluded, before starting for the door. "I have nothing more to say, and there's a subduction mechanism I need to work on."

As the foreign scientist reach for the door, however, he abruptly stopped and turned around. "But a scientist must always check himself," the professor mused. "Maya, if there's anything you wish to veto, then I'll respect your opinion."

And Seymour Nunn left the room.

It didn't take two second for Misato to pounce on Maya.

"Come on, Maya," Misato pleaded, "Call the operation off. If not for me, then do it for the children. We can't let them throw their lives away like that."

For a moment, there was a flash of hesitation in Maya's eye. Before she could say anything, however, the firm hand of Shiro touched down on her shoulders.

"I…" Maya stuttered, breaking eye-contact with Misato. "I think we should go through with the operation. It's risky, but we need to overcome our fears to step forward. I think… I think Ritsuko would've done the same thing. I'm sorry, Misato-senpai."

And with that, Maya also left the room, followed closely by Shiro Tokita.

"Dammit!" Misato hammered down on the table.

"Misato?" Makoto approached his boss from behind. "Captain Misato, please stay strong!"

"Commander!" The female officer charged up to Fuyutsuki Kozo. "Commander, please do something! I can't let our pilots do this… I'm still operations chief! I'll put all their activities in quarantine if I have to!"

"Unfortunately," Fuyutsuki said with a sigh, "You're still on probation after you exploded on the senior commander. I understand that you mean the best for the pilots but... Please understand that this is their job as well. That winning the war against the Angel and saving mankind is what they strive for. With that in mind, you're still the primary consultant for this operation! If you care for the children's safety, please make sure they come out of this in one piece. Can you do that?"

As Fuyutsuki turned to leave, Misato Katsuragi can only straighten up and salute. "I will, commander. I'll do everything I can."

* * *

Closing the meeting room door behind him, the vice-commander of NERV turned a corner and boarded the first elevator he could find. With a swipe of his card, Fuyutsuki locked the cart to his destination; forcing it to ignore additional calls and bee-line straight down to Terminal Dogma.

A ding signals his arrival, as the venerable officer steps forth into the underground catacombs. He wasn't here to visit the white giant, rather the secondary laboratory where other research best kept from the public eyes are conducted. Walking pass the Eva graveyards, where skeletal remains of failed prototypes quietly rested, Fuyutsuki entered the auxiliary cage; the old staging area used in the early days of development. The vast airy cavern was dusty, and ill-equipped for modern day operation. Yet along with its derelict installations, the years of neglect, a humming of machinery hints at mighty deeds conducted here in the years gone past.

Fuyutsuki stepped up to the railing, and fondly regarded the scene before his eyes. There, dangling from massive chains attached to the rafters, a blood-red entry-plug hung silently in the dark. The old man didn't have long to reminisce, since a second figure quickly stepped up to join him.

"It is done," Fuyutsuki spoke, turning around to acknowledge the arrival of Gendo Ikari. "A great milestone has been reached today."

Gendo nodded. "Letting Shiro get his hands on the Magi was the right choice after all. His control algorithm was the missing piece to the puzzle and, after he started uploading his ported code, it was a trivial matter to steal the underlying principle for our cause."

"Ritsuko would be proud," Fuyutsuki continued. "If she was standing here with us now, I'm sure we'd be opening a bottle of champagne in celebration. Unfortunately, we'll just have to let her Magnum Opus speak for itself."

"It'll be straight forward to swap these entry-plugs for the usual ones," Gendo said as he leaned his arms on the rails. "The current mission requires hardware exchange anyways, and from what I'm hearing, the science department intends to deploy all four Eva compatible with the D-type equipment."

"I can tell the mechanics that these are our high-pressure plugs," the old professor pressed a nearby button, and beams of light slowly start to illuminate the underground chamber. At first highlighting only the lone entry-plug, four more came into view as more of the hollow is revealed.

"No guarantees that these will work better than live pilots just yet," Fuyutsuki continued as, one by one, the cranes attached to the plug move them along their rails. The plugs will make their way towards the main-shaft, where service elevators will carry them the rest of the distance up to the main Eva staging area.

"Not to worry," Gendo Ikari spoke with satisfaction. "As long as they synch to the Eva without the Key of Nebuchadnezzar, I will consider all that we've done a resounding success."

* * *

"Aren't you glad we went through that exercise together 2-weeks ago?"

"Let me go, Toji! I will end him!"

"Relax, Asuka! He's just doing that to press your buttons."

"[Yes, Asuka! Besides, you're gonna hurt yourself more than him while you're wearing that pressure-suit anyways!]"

Shinji sat back, and watched as Toji and Maria tried to restrain Asuka from killing him; not that she could, and not that they needed to. They were all strapped down aboard NERV's MiG-55 D transport helicopter, the very same one they rode to the UN's Pacific Fleet in the warm south sea almost a month ago; though – as counterintuitive as it may seem – this time the destination was guaranteed to be much warmer still. Based on reports from his cosplay brigade earlier this morning, Shinji knew that a dormant Angel had been discovered deep down the main vent of Mt. Asama, and that the Science department was dispatching all four functional Evas in a mad gambit to capture it 'in what we believe could be a game-winning move', the bunnies had emphasized.

That's why they were scrambling so far from Tokyo-3 right now. Units 00, 02, 03 and 04, equipped with bulky D-Type gear suitable for extreme operating condition – much to Asuka's chagrin – were already airlifted on-site by the Fly-wings. As for the pilots, they were coming in separately just before the preparation was done; Misato had deemed the hyper-inflated temperature-resistant plug-suit to be undignified and uncomfortable, hence demanded that the Children be forced to wear it for as little a time as they could.

Of course, when the time did come, the anticipation didn't make Rei, Toji, Asuka and Maria look any less ridiculous in their flabby suits.

"The hell you four are about to faced today is nothing compared to the Spiciness Marble," Shinji tried to encourage his 'friends'. "Now that you all have banded together, I have no doubt that this mission will be a flying success."

Shinji nonchalantly ignored the fiery German as she fell into another fit of murderous rage. It's true that Asuka, Maria and – to a small extent – Toji have 'banded together'; for certain definitions of band together. If nothing else, they're now jointly after his hide which, from Shinji's point-of-view, is much better than when they were after each other's. He cared little when it comes to the girl's opinion of him. So long as he can use them to patch his weak scientific knowledge later, Shinji would be satisfied. There's still a long way to go to get there, but at least the geek-brigade is no longer doomed to fail from the onset now.

"[Would you please knock it off?]" Maria gave Shinji the evil eye. "[I don't know what you're trying but, honestly, it's really pissing Asuka off, and I'm starting to feel like I should let her wail on you as well. For us pilots, the hours leading up to a mission can be really stressful – not that you would know. I'd rather be talking about other stuff with my teammates than listen to you sound off on something you don't really know jack. Can you and your less than useless ass do us all a favor and just shut up?]"

Shinji sighed. Yep, he's got a long way to go.

"We'll be arriving at Mt. Asama's research station on the Eastern slope in about 5-minutes," Makoto's voice yelled out from the cockpit. "Initiating landing sequence at our field command post."

"You children prepare for landing," Misato's voice sounded out to follow up Makoto's. "And save the fighting for the schoolyard. I'm in charge of your safety for this operation, and you bet I'm gonna do my job right! You're all NERV's children, for crying out loud! Start acting like one!"

"Yes, Misato!" The pilots shouted in unison, before checking their belts and straps again. They've got an important mission to see through and, despite Shinji's provocation, they weren't going to start off on the wrong foot.

* * *

"Confirming arrival of the children!"

"Pilots Ayanami, Soryu, Suzuhara and Vincennes have begun boarding their designated Evanegelion! Captain Katsuragi, Second-Lieutenant Hyuga and Third Children Ikari will reach field command in 5…4…3…"

Maya Ibuki waved to acknowledge the latest arrival, before turning her attention back to the task at hand. Before her, spread out across a massive command table, innumerable charts and diagrams detail the strategy and tactics for their upcoming mission.

"Dr. Nunn, engineering have placed laser cranes at 90-degree separation from each other around the main vent, per your request." Maya said to the foreign scholar as she marked their location on a printed map. "How do we intend to capture the Angel and lift it from the lava?"

Across from Maya, Seymour Nunn rolled out a cross-sectional depth map of the main shaft. "We'll navigate down to the chrysalis with the 4 Evas," the professor said as he traced a line down the diagram. "The Angel was detected at 1500-meters, though there's a possibility that it'll have moved away since. We'll send a sonar probe along as with the Evas, so they can move into position as soon as the specimen's position is confirmed."

By this point, Misato and Shinji had stepped up join them at the strategy table. Makoto, on the other hand, joined the bunny brigade at the control terminals; ready to report any critical change to the command staff.

"The Angel can only be affected by an A.T. Field, right?" Seymour continued. "We'll use the 4 Evas to project the field from opposing direction, which should be enough to form a tetrahedral cage around the chrysalis. At that point, if we slowly raise all 4 units equally from the lava, we should be able to lift the entire system out in one go, at which point restrain and retrieval of the chrysalis should be straight-forward."

"What happens if the Angel somehow wakes up?' Misato asked.

"We run," Seymour replied. "There's absolutely no reason for us to engage the Angel in the lava, and it's bound to follow us up to the surface anyways. At that point, we try to restrain it for capture or, worse comes to worse, we kill it with the Spear."

"That's our last-ditch solution though," Maya interjected. "The goal is to capture the specimen after all, and it won't do us much good if the Angel is dead."

"Right," Seymour concurred. "If we have the Angel in the A.T. field trap, though, then it shouldn't experience any external difference from its usual surroundings. After all, the field completely isolate any ambience change; so unless it _just_ happens to wake up as we're moving the cage, there should be nothing to trigger the Angel's alarm at all."

"I hope you're right," Shinji said. "Fair isn't exactly part of the Angel's dictionary. Given how vulnerable Rei and co. are gonna be under all that lava, they'll be in hot fire for sure if something goes wrong."

"Professor Nunn! Maya!" Makoto yelled from his terminal. "Preparation of the Eva is complete! All pilots have boarded their units and are standing by for your orders!"

"Finally," the scientist stepped up behind Satsuki, followed closely by Maya, Shinji and Misato. "Can you connect me to the children? I'd like to say a couple words to them before we start."

"Certainly, sir!"

There was a short click, and immediately a video feed from the four entry-plug booted on screen.

"Professor!" Maria acknowledge her guardian with a start.

"Listen up, pilots," Seymour addressed the four children. "You're about to conduct the first ever Eva operation lead by NERV's science department. You will be descending down Mt. Asama's main shaft to capture a living Angel specimen. That's right! You will be entering into Hades to capture Cerberus itself! Understand that it is dangerous. That it is risky. That it is borderline suicidal! Once you've completely understood that, understand as well that your success could mean the first time humanity has ever restrained and captured an Angel! Your success could give us the secrets of their power, their fickle ability, and their arcane defenses. In short, your success could mean humanity's victory against the adversary in one fell swoop!"

Maya could see Toji and Asuka gulp down their breath. She couldn't blame them; she did the same herself.

"But we will worry about humanity when we succeed," Seymour continued. "Right here, right now, you only have to worry about the mission, and to succeed the mission, you must not forget to trust! Trust in your Eva. Trust in your operators. Trust in your experience and, above all, trust in your teammates! Trust that they will truly do their part of the mission and, in return, know that they trust you to do your own!"

"Children of the NERV pilot program! You will carry out your mission, and until you succeed, you are not allowed to die! If you die, then the mission will fail and you will betray your teammate's trust! Pilots who betray their teammates trust are worse than useless, and shall burn in hell! I do not believe in hell, and I have no intentions of starting to believe for your sake! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good. This operation should take no more than 6-hours at most. I've already made a reservation at an Onsen resort nearby, and it'll be a shame if we need to cancel! Do your job, children, and tonight we shall be hailing you as heroes. That is all"

"Yes, sir!"

Seymour Nunn hung up, and turned to face the officers of NERV in the command tent.

"What I said applies to you all as well. The pilots have placed their trust in us, and we too are not allowed disappoint! Ms. Mogami, release the deep sonar probe. As of this moment, Operation Izanagi is begun!"

* * *

0… 1… 2…

The moment Unit-04's lower body entered the lava, Maria Vincennes could feel it in her legs. The feedback system transmitted a burning sensation directly into her brain, and it took every fiber of Maria's will to prevent herself from screaming out in shock. It didn't take long, however, for the coolant system to kicked in and reduced the discomfort to approximately that of sitting in a sauna which, when one really thought about it, is exactly what the water-cooling system was doing to the Eva.

"Visibility is zero," the intercom blared with Asuka's voice. "Switching to CR-mode. Visibility up to 20-meters max."

Following suite herself, Maria could make out the shadowy form of Unit-02 and 03 at the edge of her sensor's limit. Rei and Unit-00, positioned directly across from her along the main shaft, was too distant to discern. It looks like they're going to have to do this blind after all.

"Oy, I can't see jack in here!" the unmistakable voice of Toji echoed through the radio. "How the hell are we supposed to find the Angel?"

"The sonar will guide you to the correct location," Maya's gentle voice replied. "If our initial probe is any indication, you'll be hard-pressed to miss it once you're in sight. No need to worry about it for at least another 1500 meters though."

"Roger," Toji said, and signed off.

Maria looked at her depth gauge, and let out a sigh.

11… 12… 13…

It's going to take a while to get to their desired depth. Who knew going to hell could take this long?

* * *

191… 192… 193…

"Hey, did you know?" The voice of Asuka suddenly sounded through the channels. "Lava is about 3.1 times denser than water. This means that if you were to fall into a pool of it, you'd actually float! Provided, of course, that the carbons making up your body didn't combust into flame."

"Cut the chatter, Asuka," Shinji's voice interjected. "The other pilots are trying to focus."

"I don't mind!" Toji yelled. "It's very effective at making me focus on my mortality."

"Stop making assertions about things you don't know, Third children," Maria chimed in with no small bit of satisfaction. "Anyways, here's another interesting bit of trivia. The deepest diving combat submarine in the US navy is the Seawolf-class nuclear sub. It has a crush depth 730-meters, and is second only the Soviet Alfa, which will make it down to 1,300. The deepest diving vehicle ever made was the Trieste, which reached the bottom of Challenger's Deep at 10,911 meters in the Mariana Trench. Of course, none of those subs could possibly function in an ambience temperature of 1,300 degrees like we are now."

"What's more," Asuka chimed in, "the pressure of water increases by 1 atmosphere every 10-meters or so, so at a hundred meters down, you'd face about ten-times the pressure of air at sea level. Now, since we're in lava which, as I said earlier is 3.1 times denser than water, the pressure will increase 3.1 times as quickly as well. At our target depth of 1,500 meters, we'll be faced with over 465 atmosphere of pressure, or equivalent to the pre-launch mass of the space-shuttle pressing down on your chest!"

"Yikes!" Toji shouted with alarm. "I'm… not so sure about this mission anymore."

"Relax," Asuka jeered. "You're floating in LCL which, being a liquid, is essentially incompressible – so no need to worry about your lungs collapsing. Also, the D-type gear is water-cooled, so no need to worry about the Eva or your coolant pipe crushing either. As long as there's no rupture, you'll be fine!"

"Besides, the thing you should be more concerned about is the 1300 degree molten lava anyways," Maria added. "If anything goes wrong here, it's more likely than not to be the temperature that gets you. This level of heat will scorch your nerves so quickly, you'll die before the brain can even register the burn! Feeling better, Mr. Samurai?"

"I am so thrilled to hear that," Toji deadpanned, "I'm almost looking forward to it."

* * *

467… 468… 469…

"I'm bored!" Asuka complained. "Anyone know any good games?"

"Let's play 'I spy'," Maria replied with a chuckle. "I'll start. I spy with my little eye, something beginning with the letter L."

"Lava," Toji answered. "My turn. I spy with my little eye, something beginning with the letter E."

"Eva," Asuka spoke. "Too easy. I spy with my little eye, something beginning with the letter A."

"Angel," Shinji's voice crackle through the radio. "And no you don't Asuka. There's still at least a thousand meters to go."

"Shut the hell up, Shinji!" the fiery girl yelled. "It's boring down here, ok? I can hardly see a thing outside this tin-can dive-suit. Besides, I do spy something beginning with the letter A."

"Keep your A-10 clip on your head, Asuka. Taking it off is dangerous."

"No, you dummy! And get off the line before I go up there and make you."

* * *

711… 712… 713…

"Anyone know any good songs?" Toji asked.

"You are hereby banned from singing," Asuka immediately snapped back.

"Now, now," Maria cooed. "Singing is actually really good for moral! Back in the US, whenever we had our training missions, my teammates and I would sing together all the time."

"Interesting," curiosity seeped through Toji's voice. "Got one to share with us?"

"As a matter of fact, I have the perfect song for the occasion," the American girl said with a smile. "It's a classic American country song; upbeat tempo about *beat* *beat* *beat* or so. Clap along, and I'll sing it for you."

"One step ahead of ya," Asuka said, and clapped thrice in rapid succession. "On three. One, two, three!"

"_Love… is a burning thing…. And it makes… a fiery ring…"_

* * *

786… 787… 788…

"…_the ring of fire."_

"Nice!" Toji applauded. "Nice one, Maria."

"Is that is?" Asuka said. "Seems really short."

"That the whole song," Maria replied. "All two-minutes and thirty-eight-seconds of it."

"Well ain't that the truth. Whaddaya say? Give us an encore?"

"Sure. Not like I got anything better to do."

* * *

911… 912… 913…

"There's something I've been wondering for a while now," Maria started.

"What is it?" Toji replied.

"The First. How come she never talks?"

"What do you mean, Maria?" Shinji's voice answered. "Rei does talk. She talks to me all the time. She's just very conservative about words. That's all."

"No, Shinji… I mean…" Maria paused for a second of thought. "She talks to you, maybe, but not like the rest of us. We've been diving for almost an hour now, but I've hardly heard a squeak out of her. I'm usually pretty taciturn myself, but I've been talking my heads off the past 45-minutes."

"Of course you're taciturn, Maria."

"Shut up, Shinji," Asuka bellowed. "Anyways, Rei, you know you're welcomed to join the conversation, right? You're our teammate as well. Heck, Shinji's not even down here with us and I can't seem to stop him from hogging the line."

It goes without saying that Rei didn't respond.

"Rei? Ayanami Rei! Are you there? Is everything alright?"

"Rei is fine," Shinji spoke. "All her vitals are normal. She just doesn't want to speak to you. Can you not leave the girl to her peace and quiet?"

"Jeez," Asuka groaned. "Let the girl speak for herself for once. Are you her father or something?"

"Yeah," Maria sniggered. "Do you know what they call parents who micro-manage their blue-haired, red-eyed daughter in America? He_Rei_copter parents."

A snorting chuckle sounded from Asuka's channel. "Now now, Maria, I'm sure Shinji has his _Rei_sons."

"Shinji likes _Rei_sins?" Maria laughs. "That's just _Rei_tarded!"

"Girls…"

"Hey, listen," Asuka started, "What does a blue-haired, red-eyed girl drink to cool down from the heat? _Rei_monade!"

"Nice," Maria said. "Where does a blue-haired, red-eyed girl go to relax after a hard day's work? "The _Rei_sort_!_"

"And what does the inn-master tell the blue-haired, red-eyed girl when her room isn't ready in time? 'Sorry for the de_Rei_!'"

"Err… Girls…"

"When the blue-haired, red-eyed girl returns from her business travel, what does she tell accounting? 'I'd like to be_ Rei_mbursed!'"

"But the accountant denies her request. Why? Because she didn't have an itemized _Rei_ceipt!"

"I… I'm gonna hang up now." The voice of Shinji Ikari spoke, before an audible click sounded.

* * *

999… 1000… 1001

"What do you call a blue-haired, red-eyed girl who wants to become one with everything? The Da_Rei_ Lama!"

* * *

1107… 1108… 1109

"_I'm singin' in the _Rei_n_… _Just singin' in the _Rei_n…_"

* * *

1222… 1223… 1224…

"Shinji? Come in, Shinji."

"Yes, Toji, what is it?"

"What the hell are the girls going on about?"

"Puns, Toji. God-awful ones at that. God-awful untranslatable puns, in English, which is why you're auto-interpreter is just giving up and relaying the most meaningful translation instead."

Asuka's giggling sounded out. "Shinji, don't you mean 're_Rei_ing the most meaningful translation instead'?"

"The joke is getting old, Asuka. They're _Rei_m puns that weren't even funny in the first place. Give it a _Rei_s already."

"Yes!" Maria yelled. "He has succumbed to it too!"

"That is it!" the voice of Misato bellowed through the channels. "I don't know what the hell is going on, but this stops now. This sickness of the mind is clearly contagious. Just like…"

There was a pause, though everyone knew what Misato was about to say.

"Just like what, Misato?" Toji innocently asked.

"Just like…" there was a moment's hesitation, but the Captain knew she needed to follow through. "Just like _Rei_bies."

And the channels exploded in laughter.

"Enough!" Seymour Nunn commanded. "All communications are squelched until we reach the 1400 meter mark. You all better have your heads screwed back on tight by then, or I swear the Angel is going to ra… violated us all."

* * *

1417… 1418… 1419…

"Ms. Ibuki, Dr. Nunn."

"What is it, Toji-kun?" Maya replied.

"I think I found a nifty trick. I've been doing it for the past couple minutes now, and..."

"What did you do, Pilot Suzuhara?" Seymour instantly inquired.

"Well, after the comm channels were squelched, I was thinking how hot this entire ride was. I remember you said that the A.T. Field could keep out anything I wanted, so I tried putting up a layer between me and the lava. It made the ride so much more comfortable."

"…"

"Should I… not have done that?"

Through the radio, there was the sound of shuffling feet, and a distinct shattering noise as though a glass of beverage had been dropped.

"Satsuki," Shinji's voice yelled, "what is the cooling efficiency of Unit-03?"

"Temperatures are within acceptable working parameters, sir!"

"How is he comparing to the other Eva?"

"It's… Master Shinji, Unit-03 is cooling with 800% the efficiency of the other Evas, sir!"

"Umbilical cable power consumption is comparable to that of nominal A.T. Field usage," Aoi Mogami chimed in.

"I…" Toji stuttered. "I really shouldn't have done that, right?"

"No, Toji," Maria suddenly spoke out; disbelief in her voice. "What you did was genius!"

"Genius?"

"Yes!" Seymour explained. "I'm not too sure about the details yet, but apparently A.T. Field can stop thermal transfer. It violates the 2nd law of thermodynamics! The implications are huge!"

"Does that mean we can…" Toji said with excitement, before slowing down. "We can… What can we do?"

"Depth levels have reached 1500 meters," Aoi shouted, interrupting the train of thought.

"We can focus on the mission for now," Seymour echoed. "Engineering applications can wait until we're done here."

"What does the sonar probe say?" Shinji's voice addressed the operation crew.

"Nothing detected at the present depth," Makoto's voice replied. "Though I'm picking up a large mass at the 1600-meter level or so."

"Is that within safety parameters?" Misato asked.

"Yes," Maya's voice replied. "The Evas should still retain critical functions at that level. We can do it! We can corner the Angel!"

A buzz of excitement echo through the radio.

"This is it, guys," Shinji spoke. "The chrysalis is in sight. It's do-or-die now!"

* * *

1601-meters, and maintaining.

Maria looked through her dive-suit's viewport, fixing her sight on the massive shadow in the distance. The time has come. This is it.

The Fifth children closed her eyes, and reached out her senses to the cyborg surrounding her. Every breath, every sensation, every rumble of the machine; in her mind they were indistinguishable from her own.

_And all was as it should be._

Slowly, steadily, her senses extended outward. As the domain of her awareness widened, Maria observed every drop of lava, every flow of current, every degree of heat.

_And all was as it should be._

The edge of her awareness dampened, the borders of sensibility reached; yet Maria pushed further. More. She can still handle more! The territory pushed, resisted, retracted and stalled. More! She needed more. She deserved more! Maria demanded. She demanded more. She demanded the absolute from her machine until…

The boundaries gave.

_There_!

There was a burst of power, as Unit-04 surrendered its A.T. Field capability to Maria. All around, in her absolute territory, Maria can feel everything. Sense everything. Control everything.

_And all was as it should be._

"This is Unit-04," the blond pilot reported. "I've established optimal control over my A.T. Fields. Standing by for deployment."

"Thank you, Maria," Maya's voice replied. "Your synch level is stabilizing at 77%. Awaiting field check confirmation from Unit-00 and 03… done!"

"Commence containment of the specimen!" Seymour yelled. "All pilots, deploy your A.T. field now!"

Reaching out to the boundary of her world, Maria formed an edge – a sheet, a zone, a barrier. Everything that passes through the zone was known to her, everything down to the atom.

_Let naught pass through my barrier any longer_.

With a stretch of her arms, a massive A.T. field was projected before Unit-04. At the edge of the field, Maria sensed 3 foreign boundaries merging with her own. The field interweaved, combined, and locked together into one.

"A.T. field containment cage is complete," Asuka's voice sounded out through the radio. "The chrysalis is firmly contained in our perimeters."

"Good job," Seymour said. "The external world is lost to that damn Angel now. Begin extraction of the pilot and the specimen. This is the home stretch, people!"

* * *

1001… 1000… 999…

"Why is this taking so long?" Shinji said with impatience.

"We've halved the movement speed for the ascent," Maya explained. "There's several reasons why we're doing that. First, we're lifting the Eva _and_ the Angels, and we're lifting them upwards. Our cranes need to exert much more power this time round. Second, and more importantly, we want to maintain formation of the Eva. A large relative velocity between the four can cause the cage to shatter; we don't want to drop our specimen this far into the game."

"If we're taking twice as long," Misato inquired, "isn't that doubly taxing on their concentration? As far as I understand, maintaining control over the A.T. field facility is extremely exhausting."

"Yeah," Shinji echoed the sentiment. "They've been completely silent this past 500-meters. What if something goes wrong?"

"This is where you must trust in your friends," Seymour answered. "We must trust that the four of them can maintain focus for the next kilometer, and then long enough after than to secure the specimen."

"I trust Asuka and co, yes." Shinji responded. "What I don't trust is that thing they're bringing up with them."

On screen, the depth gauge slowly, ever so slowly, counted down.

* * *

552… 551… 550…

Toji focused his mind on the task before him, and held firm. Through his view screen, the orange barrier stood firm; holding within its precious cargo.

It's been almost two hours now, and Toji was beginning to feel a shred of fatigue. Since his first time in an Eva, the Fourth children had gotten plenty of practice controlling the robot and maintaining its A.T. field. He's pretty confident in his synchronization score, but the focus needed for the job today was something else altogether.

Toji recalled the training he'd received. The tips from Asuka regarding synch control. The pointers from Maria regarding combat maneuvers. They might not matter directly right now, but the familiarity and comfort he feels in his Eva is surely something to be thankful for.

"Instability detected in the Fourth children's EEG," one of the operators declared.

"Toji, how're you doing?" Misato's voice quickly followed.

"I…" Toji stammered in surprised. "I'm fine. My mind was just wandering for a bit."

"I understand," the Captain replied. "It's hard to focus on something for so many hours. Pros train for years to do it."

"I'll manage," Toji scoffed.

"Would you like some chemical boosters?" Maya interjected. "A couple milligrams of dextroamphetamine can really help to sharpen the mind."

"Nah, I don't need any drugs,"

"Toji," Shinji said, "think about that decision. A small dose will have no long-term effect, but can noticeably improve performance. Maria already accepted one, and Rei two; though Asuka has been refusing it thus far. Are you denying medication because of pride, or because you really don't need it?"

"Just so you understand," Maya reinforced, "there's no need to take it right now either. If you change your mind, we can always give you the boost further down the line."

For a moment, Toji thought about his condition. His focus was still there, but with the task at hand, he didn't want to take any risks.

"Thanks guys," the boy finally respond. "I'll take the shot."

"Queuing up 20-milligrams of dextroamphetamine for the Fourth children," Kaede announced. "Toji-kun, the drugs will be released directly into the LCL. You don't have to worry about a shot or anything. You'll feel the effects in no time."

Hearing that, Toji relaxed his muscles. He didn't even noticed himself tensing up.

"I'll be up there soon," the boy proclaimed. "You guys just sit tight."

* * *

225… 224… 223…

"Pressure leak detected within the A.T. Field cage!" Satsuki declared.

"What happened?" Misato asked. "Is it the Angel?!"

"Pilots! What do you see?" Seymour yelled.

"Professor," Maria instantly replied. "No visual change about the chrysalis! I can, however, confirm an increase of pressure from within the containment field!"

"What the hell is happening?" Toji bellowed. "It's been getting harder to maintain the cage, and I know it's not just in my head!"

"Prepare to abandon the chrysalis," Misato ordered. "All Eva is to ditch the package at the first sign of Angel activity! Stay alert!"

"Roger!"

Misato turned to face Seymour. "At this rate, they'll never make it out of the lava. What's going on, professor?"

Seymour tilted his head in thought. "Could it be the pressure gradient? There's almost 420 atmosphere of difference between the point that the cage was sealed, and the ambience right now. That's a lot of stress being exerted on the A.T. field."

"But aren't the A.T. field absolute," Misato asked.

"No, they're not. At least, ours isn't. We're constrained by our power output, which means that despite the incredible defense our Eva can exhibit, it's still not on the level of the Angels. That's part of the reason why we need to succeed this operation right now"

"So what?" the Captain pressed further. "What do we do? Do we flash the A.T. Field cage? An instant of release and reconstruction will equalize the pressure gradient, right?"

"No, we can't do that. The entire point of the A.T. field cage is to ensure the chrysalis experiences no ambience difference until we have it up here for containment. It's impossible to equalize right now without the Angel noticing."

"But we can't pump in enough power to keep the walls up! If we don't do anything, pretty soon the entire cage will burst!"

"Hold on!" Shinji interrupted. "What if we do both?"

"What are you talking about, Shinji!"

"We boost the power to the Eva, and allow excess pressure build up to dissipate at the same time. There's no way the cage can make it all the way up at 480 atmosphere, but maybe we can do 400? That's better than nothing right?"

"Aoi, how much power-consumption would that take?" Misato immediately asked the bespectacled operator.

"Captain, that'll consume all the bandwidth we have," the operator answered. "The Eva will be forced to tap into battery supply to augment their umbilical cable. They can keep it up for at most 1-minutes."

"Dammit!" Misato groaned.

"What's the fastest reel-in speed the crane can achieve?" Shinji asked.

"At the present load, about two meters per second," Aoi replied.

"Or 120 meters in 1-minutes." Shinji concluded. "Dr. Nunn, will that work?"

"We can boost the umbilical power input to max for now," the professor elaborated, "then put the pedal to the metal for the last 120 meters. It could work, but it's ballsy as heck. We've been going slowly for a reason."

"Yeah," Maya chimed in. "If the Eva drift too far apart from their relative position, the entire cage can crack!"

"So the onus is on us to _not_ drift them apart, right?" Shinji exclaimed. "Use the sonar probe! Plot out the expected current and trajectories! We'll guide the crane to compensate as much as we can, and trust that the pilots can account for a couple meters of shift by themselves."

"That could work," Seymour agreed. "In fact, I think that might just be the best solution at hand right now!"

The professor turned to face the comm screen, where a video feed to the four pilots was displayed.

"You heard the plan! Increase the power to your A.T. field. You're at 200 meters right now. For the next 80, things are gonna get hard, and then it's gonna get harder. Children of NERV, the time to go for broke is now. Can you do it?"

"Yes sir!"

"Science team," Seymour turned to address the command tent. "The Eva reaches their 120 meter mark in less than 15-minutes! They are relying on us to keep their foothold stable. Number crunch like you've never done before!"

There was a roar of acknowledgement in reply.

* * *

130… 129… 128…

"You're approaching the boost point in less than 10 meters," a voice alerted Asuka through her radio.

"Thanks." Asuka replied. "I'm feeling the dex-amph kick in. I know I can do this."

At that moment, a video chat channel connected her to the other Eva; one for each pilot.

"Here it comes, guys!" Asuka spoke. "Keep a strong output, and hold steady as one!"

"Banzai!" Toji yelled.

"Yee-haw!" Maria echoed.

"Speed boost in 5…" Satsuki reported. "4… 3… 2… 1…"

"A.T. field, max power!"

Even before the words left her mouth, Asuka could feel the burst of speed around her. The cables pulled taunt, and molten rock part around as she and her companion began to jet upward. Lava is 100,000 times more viscous than water so, despite the seemingly modest speed of two meter per second, the counter force acting down on them was intense.

"Maria, you're drifting away from your vertex," Asuka spoke even before her senses completely register the motion. "Up the range of your field!"

"One step ahead of you!" Maria replied.

"Rei, your output is fluctuating! Tune it down by 2% to match with Toj-"

The field from Unit-00 adjusted as soon as the words left Asuka's mouth.

"Cage stability is go! 70 meters left for us, guys! Hyaa!"

"Internal power source is down to 48%!" Toji reported.

"What!?"

It took less than a second for Asuka to realize that their power would leave them a few meters short.

"How did that happen?"

"The laser crane's bandwidth is being taxed to power the speed boost," Shinji replied. "Less power is coming through to your umbilical cable, so drain on battery must go up to compensate."

"Goddammit Shinji!" Asuka scream. "Scheiße!"

"It's fine," Seymour interrupted. "We knew this was going to happen. You can release the pressure hold in the last 10 meters, and start equalizing the chrysalis for capture even before arrival. Ground support is on standby with enough Bakelite and liquid Nitrogen to bury the Titanic."

"Release the cage as soon as you clear the main-shaft, and they'll take over from there." Maya declared. "The Bakelite will stop any mechanical motion, and low temperature will flash-freeze any biological process the Angel might be gearing up to do!"

"You sure that's gonna work?" Toji asked in disbelief.

"It worked on our Eva," Misato answered. "Same process we have in Central Dogma if they go out of control. It's the best we've got."

"I hope you know what you're talking about," Asuka bellowed. "'cause we're coming in hot! Breaking the 30-meter mark now!"

"Upper cage vertex have broken the surface!" Makoto relayed, and not a breath later Asuka's view-port emerged from the surface of the lava.

"Relaxing power output," Toji said again. "Battery power down to 12%! 8! 4!"

"All four Eva have cleared the lava! Repositioning laser crane over solid ground now!"

"Done!" Seymour commanded. "Children, release the cage!"

Immediately the glowing orange wall of the tetrahedron vanish, and sprays of lava shot in every which way with the sudden release of pressure. From within, a massive dark ellipsoid dropped down to the ground with an earth-shattering thud.

Even before the echo subsided, teams of trucks and trailers charged forward towards the chrysalis. Gears turned and valves opened, as jets of Bakelite and Nitrogen pour forth to smother the alien object in deluge. A curtain of steam exploded outward, clouding the caldera in an impenetrable veil of white.

"What's the status?" Asuka shouted. "What's happening?! Did it work?"

"Chrysalis surface temperature is rapidly dropping," Maya said with excitement. "Four-hundred degrees! Two-hundred! One! Fifty! Twenty-five!"

"Pile up that Bakelite," Seymour echoed. "We need to make sure the Angel is properly contained!"

"Minus ten-degrees! Minus fifteen! Minus twenty!"

"No movement from the chrysalis," Makoto exclaimed. "Lower temperature threshold has been passed! Commander, we've done it! The specimen is contained!"

As Asuka look out through her view-port, she could see the veil of steam slowly part. There, behind the misty curtain of white, a frosted over field of ice surround a monstrous mound of red.

For a moment, there was silence in the caldera, as everyone present contemplated the amazing feat they had just done.

* * *

As Shinji walked across the frozen field towards what he dubbed 'Angelus Mons', he couldn't resist the crunching sound of frost beneath his heels. Echoing through the still-misty veil, the constant 'crunch, crunch' shouldn't have any significant meaning; yet somehow, to the ears of Shinji Ikari, it sounded like success, tasted like victory, and smelt like an early end to the war.

"That," the boy said, turning round to address the three bridge bunnies following behind him, "is the most beautiful sound of compacting crystal ice I have ever heard. Don't you agree?"

"Yes, Master Shinji" the bunnies replied in unison.

"And it's thanks to the hard work of you three that we can feast our ears on such a note today," Shinji continued. "I know we have an odd sort of relationship, and I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to reward your hard work. But for now, if nothing else, you have my profound gratitude."

Shinji bowed his head slightly in reverence to his brigade who, upon seeing the gesture, bowed theirs even lower still.

"Thank you, Master!" Kaede spoke.

"We've only done what was asked of our job," Satsuki said in turn.

"We, too, wanted nothing more than the operation to succeed," Aoi concurred. "That it did is sufficiently rewarding in and of itself."

"Hardly," Shinji straighten up, and continued walking towards the mound. "This isn't the only time you went above and beyond your prescribed duty either. Your reports from the shakedown activation was phenomenal, and I'm still trying to understand all the implications. As it stands, I'm personally just a student, and my job as a NERV children doesn't exactly have generous pay. But I will try to petition HR to recognize you for a job well done."

"Thank you, Master!" the three girls continued after Shinji in his stroll.

"Although… now that I think about it…" the boy tilted his head in thought. "I do know that girls my age tends to enjoy sweets. I don't know how much that applies to the three of you, but once we get back to Tokyo-3, why don't I personally treat you three to parfait? It's not much, but I do know a little café that makes a most precious serving of them."

If Shinji had chosen that moment to turn around, he would've borne witness to a most fascinating phenomenon of flying bunnies.

"Master Shinji," the three girls spoke in unison, "we could not possibly ask for more!"

The four figures pressed further through the mist, further down the caldera. The soft crunch, crunch growing louder as they approached the epicenter.

"So what happens now?" Shinji asked.

"Excavation teams are being mobilized to retrieve the specimen from the Bakelite," Aoi explained. "They'll work closely with the science team to ensure that the Angel remains cryogenically frozen at all time. At which point, ground transport will be arranged to move the specimen to Matsushiro's Secondary Research Facility."

"Eva units will be posted as safeguards as well," Satsuki continued. "They're currently un-equipping the D-type gear, after which they will assist with the excavation and, later, the transportation process. We expect the operation to complete by nightfall tonight."

"Research into the chrysalis will begin first thing tomorrow," Aoi summarized, "as soon as the specimen has been sufficiently prepped for investigation. For the foreseeable future, one Evangelion will be stationed aside the Angel at all times, both to provide A.T. field neutralization and subduction should any irregular activity occur. On the more immediate terms, I believe pilot Ayanami has volunteered for first sentry duty tonight, though a regular rotation is being set up and pilot Maria has agreed to come and relieve her tomorrow at daybreak."

For a moment, Shinji paused in his stride; before stoically continuing.

"She never really looks out for herself, does she?" the boy mused to himself. "There's a party at an Onsen resort this evening, but she goes ahead and volunteers for guard duty anyways. I wonder what goes through her mind sometime."

The three bunnies pause in their stride too, before looking knowingly at each other. Slowly, mischievous grin descended across each of their face.

"Master Shinji is surprisingly considerate of his colleague," Kaede spoke.

"I'm sure the First children will appreciate your sentiments," Satsuki said in turn.

"If you like, we can arrange a token of appreciation for her on your behalf," Aoi suggested. "Since she will be missing an Onsen resort tonight, perhaps a trip to one of the lesser springs around Tokyo-3 would be appropriate? An economic package for two is easily acquired."

Shinji strained his eyes towards the laser crane staging area. Through the mist, he can barely make the outlines of Unit-00 being removed from its dive-suit. "Perhaps," the boy mused. "She has been very helpful to me these past few weeks. Perhaps such a gift would indeed be warranted."

If Shinji weren't paying full attention to the 'crunch, crunch' sound echoing through the air, he might've heard the soft noise of three bunnies squee-ing behind him.

"I wonder if an Eva guard for the Angels can't be automated somehow," Shinji thought aloud. "It'll be a shame if we can field one less Eva from this point onward indefinitely. Hopefully we get another Unit to bolster our forces soon."

"Actually," Satsuki perked up, "I heard recently through the grapevines that NERV started some joint program with JHCI, the AI powerhouse. Given their CEO's current standing as IPEA head, and Dr. Akagi's unfinished work with the dummy plug, perhaps we'll get to see automatic Eva in action relatively soon?"

"Shiro Tokita, eh?" Shinji perked up at the name as well. "I recall him from Operation Overlord. Maybe I'll need to talk to him one of these days. It'll be interesting to see what new technology he has in mind."

Onward, the four striders crunched across the frozen field. Finally, a brief moment of panic where Kaede thought they'd gotten lost in the mist, the travelers arrived at the base of the Bakelight mound.

"There," Shinji said as he crouched down to the touch the solidified plastic. "Now I feel like I've physically had a hand in this operation. Thanks for joining me on my stroll. I'd love to go on further, possibly stand on top of the mound itself and pose for a photo. But for now, let's head back. We'll only get in the way of the excavation team if we went beyond this point."

"We can go on if you like," Aoi spoke. "The excavation team was station some distance away from here to avoid collateral damage. They're not scheduled to arrive for another hour or so."

"Is that so?" Shinji replied. "See, from where I'm crouching, I swear it looks like they've already gotten started. There's cracks throughout the Bakelite, and I see puffs of steam in the distance. There's innumerable crunching sound in the air and, given that the three of you have probably stopped walking behind me, I'd assumed it was being caused by the heels of excavation workers moving in to establish a dig-site."

The boy didn't need to turn around to hear the colors drain from his three bunnies' face.

"Remind me something," Shinji said to the girls. "As we trudged across the frost field, our footsteps grew louder because we stepped on thicker, brittler ice. Right?"

"Yes, Master Shinji," Kaede answered nervously. "That is the case."

"And the only thing that's thicker, brittler than ice around here is the Bakelight. Right?"

"Yes, Master Shinji," Satsuki answered nervously. "That is the case."

"So it would stand to reason that the crunching sounds we hear right now, one that's far louder than any of our footsteps thus far, is caused by the Bakelight itself cracking apart. Right?"

"Yes, Master Shinji," Aoi answered nervously. "That is the case."

Shinji turned around to face his bunnies, and took a deep deep breath.

"Girls, how fast do you think you can run with those heels your wearing?" The boy asked as he pointed to each of their shoe.

The bunnies looked at each other, before shaking their heads.

"In that case, I suggest you take a moment to remove them now," Shinji said as he lifted a small radio hand-set to his mouth. "Hello?" the boy spoke into the transmitter. "This is Shinji Ikari! My subordinates and I have decided to take a stroll down over to Angelus Mons for a closer look. I can confirm that the Bakelite is shattering apart, and that the temperature is quickly warming up. This leads me to believe, quite strongly I might add, that the Angel will be waking up any moment now. As such, I strongly urge the Evangelion and their pilots to immediately prepare for combat, and other non-relevant personnels to immediately evacuate the premises. I will now be sprinting back to our command post for dear life, and I'd appreciate very much if one of those MiG-55 D transport could be ready to remove me and my three operator's sorry ass as soon as we get to da choppah. Thank you!"

Shinji tossed his radio aside, and nodded to the three bunny girls.

"Despite everything that's probably about to happen," Shinji sympathetically said, "my offer of parfait to you three still stands. Of course, all offers are void if either party fails to stay alive. I don't know about you, but I intend to start running right about now. I urge you three to try and keep up."

And with that, the four traveler shot off like a silent bullet, leaving the crumbling red mound behind them. As if to make up for the lack of starting gunfire, an exploding sound thundered up into the sky, marking at the same time a massive fissure line splitting the mound in two. From inside the crack, from within the shadowy swirls of obscurity, a writhing mass of fins, arms and claw inched out into the steaming caldera.

* * *

_FFdotNet eats formatting for the Classified Information chart. Please compensate with your imagination._

_H.I.P. releases have slowly but progressively gotten longer with every iteration. This is the first to break the 10k word barrier (10,150); contrast that with the initial chapter which had a measly 2,373 words. This is obviously unsustainable, nor is it desirable. Something will probably be done about that, but most likely not before the end of this arc (which is fast approaching).  
_


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